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Tucked into the rolling hills of the Palouse along the Washington-Idaho border, Moscow boasts a vibrant food scene – especially for a city of its size. Downtown – walkable, charming, home to one of the best and longest-running farmers markets in the Inland Northwest – is dotted with restaurants, cafes and coffee shops that are often filled with University of Idaho students camped out in corners with laptops and notebooks. During a recent visit, a sign strung across the main drag read, “Welcome Vandals.” Here’s where to go for grub around the U of I. Cheap eats: Mikey’s Gyros This unfussy Main Street staple – open since 1981 – serves up hearty Greek gyros and pitas at prices both college students and adjunct professors can afford, or about $5. They’re all topped with lettuce, red onion and tomato. Vegetarian offerings also get sprouts and black olives. And house-made cucumber yogurt dressing is the norm, unless otherwise noted. The Greek gyro – regular or deluxe with more meat and cheese – is the specialty. It’s stuffed with “blamb,” or a combination of seasoned beef and lamb. Falafel, hummus and chicken pitas are also available along with a few salads, soup, chowder, tabouli, nachos, chips and salsa, spanakopita and a Greek sampler. Stuffed avocado and the Leapin’ Lizard – with seasoned chicken, cream cheese and a house-made sweet-and-spicy sauce – are other specialties. 527 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 882-0780. mikeysgyros.com. Sweet treats: The Pie Safe Kitchen and Bakery It’s a bit of a drive – 24 miles east of Moscow – to Deary and this charming pie and pastry shop, which shares a building with Brush Creek Creamery. So you might want to call ahead for the daily selection of pies, breads, cakes and pastries. Look for cream puffs, scones, cookies, chocolate croissants, cinnamon rolls, apricot-almond tea bread and berry, apricot or cheese Danishes. Frozen custard is made weekly and sold by the scoop. There are milkshakes, too. A limited selection of breakfast items are also served along with brick-oven pizza, panini, soups and salads. Plan to take some award-winning cheese home, too. 307 Main St., Deary. (208) 877-1200. www.piesafebakery.com. Coffee: One World Cafe This eclectic and comfy coffee shop in downtown Moscow is a perfect spot to camp out for extended study sessions. There are plenty of nooks and crannies to set up a laptop or meet with a study group, and they’re all outfitted with mismatched tables and chairs, couches and recliners. Take the back steps to the mezzanine for a better view of the antique doors that hang from the ceiling. Local artwork adorns the walls. Used books are for sale on a back shelf near the staircase. Snacks, pastries and sandwiches such as the Totes Ma Goats – with turkey, goat cheese cucumber, red onion, lettuce, mayo and mustard on a croissant – are also available. There’s live music Friday and Saturday – and often other – nights. Coffee comes from Landgrove, a longtime roaster in nearby Troy. 533 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 883-3537. www.owc-moscow.com. Date night: Nectar Restaurant and Wine Bar Grilled, bacon-wrapped meatloaf is a specialty at Nectar, which opens later and offers exposed red brick walls, wines by the glass and seasonal craft cocktails. Good Tidings features gin, cranberry cordial, lemon, lavender bitters, rosemary and egg white. The Lana Del Rye features rye, elderflower liqueur, Lillet Blanc, grapefruit, and cardamom bitters. Dishes are new American. Plates are small. Look for charcuterie, bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers, steak skewers, bread and butter, fried garbanzos, and clams in lemon and butter with chives and tarragon. There are three salads, too, as well as entrees such as Cougar Gold mac and cheese, pan-seared steelhead, pasta puttanesca and filet mignon. 105 W. Sixth St., Moscow. (208) 882-5914. moscownectar.com. Bloom is no greasy spoon. This casually elegant eatery in the heart of Moscow specializes in breakfast and lunch and offers and array of omelets, scrambles and Benedicts as well as a quiche of the day. Look, also, for brioche French toast, house-made biscuits and sausage gravy, sandwiches, salads, burgers and crepes with fresh fruit or Nutella and whipped cream. Presentation is simple but refined. And mimosas come in three sizes: 8, 12 or 30 ounces. Walls are done in robin’s egg blue. Outdoor seating offers prime Saturday people-watching during the Moscow Farmers Market. 403 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 882-4279. moscowbloom.com. Note: For a big and hearty breakfast with more of an old-school diner vibe, the first-come, first-served, no-reservations-accepted Breakfast Club serves up skillets, home-style breakfasts, omelets, sandwiches, burgers, pancakes, waffles and its special Huckleberry Zucchini Bread French Toast. 501 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 882-6481. www.thebreakfastclub moscow.com. Burgers: Humble Burger This minimalistic burger joint is worth bragging about. Humble Burger offers a streamlined menu of burgers, fries, shakes and house-made sodas. The beef is fresh, never frozen, and picked up daily at the Moscow Food Co-op. Patties are hand-formed in house. Fries are crispy and thin. Cheese is American. The space is small but bright and airy with white square tiles and red brick walls, high ceilings with exposed beams and duct work, and lots of natural light. Humble Burger started as a food vendor at the farmers market in 2014. The brick-and-mortar location opened a year later. Note: There’s no on-site business phone so Humble Burger can’t take call-ahead orders. 102 N. Main St. www.humbleburger.com. Beer: Hunga Dunga Brewing Hunga Dunga, a reference to the Marx Brothers movie “Animal Crackers,” opened in 2016 in a renovated Quonset hut. Offerings at this craft brewery include an oatmeal pale ale that features Lyon barley, created at Washington State University, as well as a red rye, cold brew coffee stout, citrus wheat, pilsner, black rye IPA and Hopnipotent Hazy IPA. The small, ever-changing and elevated menu, written in chalk on a wall near the bar, isn’t to be missed, either. Hunga Dunga doesn’t serve your regular brewpub fare. Look for mushroom tartine, a beef-and-noodle bowl, smoked pork with polenta and apple mostarda, cauliflower dip with vadouvan butter and crostini, and braised chicken for two. 333 N. Jackson St., Moscow. (208) 596-4855. www.hunga dungabrewing.com. Pub grub: Tapped Taphouse and Kitchen This downtown eatery offers 25 Pacific Northwest beers on tap as well as a modern American menu of elevated pub grub. Look for rotating gourmet but hearty burgers and sandwiches as well as sides such as beer cheese fries, beer cheese mac, an oversized sourdough pretzel, soups and salads. Tap take-overs are a common occurrence. The vibe is modern, rustic and industrial, with exposed red brick walls and duct work as well as polished concrete floors. 210 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 596-4422. www.facebook.com/ moscowtapped. Pizza: Maialina Pizzeria Napoletana Pizza is served uncut at this contemporary and casually elegant Italian downtown restaurant, which specializes in Neopolitan-style pies. They come with a pizza cutter so you can slice your own. Starters include calamari, mussels, meatballs, and charcuterie and cheese plates as well as traditional antipasti. Look, also, for a few salads, a daily fish special, lemon-garlic-rosemary chicken and flank steak. The wine list features selections from Italy. When the weather’s nice, opt for the expansive, patio lined with planter boxes. Pizza is half price with a drink purchase every night after 9. Consider the Salsiccia with pork-fennel sausage, local and seasonal greens, house mozzarella, fennel pollen, tomato sauce and smoked chili oil. 602 S. Main St., Moscow. (208) 882-2694. http://maialina.com Game day: Corner Club Get here early on game day, when it’s standing-room only at this no-frills, nothing-fancy, cinder-block community staple that serves 32-ounce “tubs” of beer with a side of Vandal memorabilia. Photos, balls, ball caps, jerseys, a cheerleading uniform from 2008 line the walls at this super popular watering hole, founded in 1948. It’s been featured on Sports Illustrated’s website at www.si.com under the headline “Finding America’s Best Sports Bars: Idaho’s Corner Club Has Nailed the Formula.” It’s been recommended on ESPN’s website as a place to go before you die. And The Spokesman-Review’s own John Blanchette dubbed it “the Vandal bar” in his Aug. 4 column. 202 N. Main St., Moscow. (208) 882-2915. When the parents come to visit: Lodgepole Dinner reservations are recommended at Lodgepole, which offers some of the region’s finest dining. The atmosphere is casually elegant and quintessentially Inland Northwest – rustic but refined with exposed red brick and beams, plenty of wood, an open kitchen and lots of natural light from large windows overlooking a large patio. Bench seating lines one wall, and there are high-backed stools at the bar where you might be able to squeeze in on a weekend night during prime hours if you failed to make that reservation. (Best to call at least 24 hours in advance.) Lodgepole is open for dinner Tuesday through Friday and for lunch and dinner on weekends. There’s an extensive wine list. Chicken and waffles are the special on Wednesday nights. Start with deviled pickled eggs in smoked paprika oil or fried Palouse garbanzos. The seasonal gnocchi is popular. Look, also, for a selection of salads, pasta and mains such as a grilled pork chop, butter-basted ribeye, pan-roasted chicken, seasonal fish or the half-pound Lodgepole burger made from ground brisket with porchetta, American cheese, pickled onion, lettuce and barbecue aioli on a house-baked sesame bun. 106 N. Main St, Moscow. (208) 882-2268. lodgepolerestaurant.com. Subscribe to the Spokane7 email newsletter Get the day’s top entertainment headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
When I first learned about the Seven Wonders of the World in school, I went, “Hein, Ma’am are you sure?” After all, except for the Pyramids of Giza, none of the items on the hottest-places-to-see-in-the-world itinerary even existed anymore. Clearly, the Travel & Lifestyle folks of yore had been quite sluggish in updating their Best-Of lists. Anyway, I discovered quite recently that a new Top-7 list has been produced, and this one does have places that one can actually go to and click a suitable Facebook profile picture at. I was also joyously happy to see my favourite politician Mayawatiji’s property making the cut. No small feat for a person who started her journey to greatness as a humble school teacher. By the way, Happy Teachers Day, Mayawatiji! Except for the Yadavs, everyone loves you! Which brings me to the property itself. Mahamaya Taj Mahal, or simply Taj Mahal as it is known among the plebs, is a glorious monument built by Shah Jahan centuries ago (use Google if you really want to know exactly when – must I spoon-feed you?) when his beloved wife died bearing him his fourteenth child at the ripe old age of 29. It was a fitting tribute to erect such a huge building in her honour considering it was most likely the man’s perpetual erection that did her in. Anyway, back to the Taj. I am certain that it wasn’t quite smooth-sailing to construct a building of that complexity. I suspect some of the conversations during its design and construction might have gone like this – A’la Azad Abul Muzaffar Shahab ud-Din Mohammad Khurram, or simply Shah Jahan for short : (with thundering anger and blazing eyes) What the hell is wrong with you, you bloody nincompoop? Didn’t I say that I wanted taller minarets? What is wrong with you architects these days? Don’t you ever listen? Taufeeq Contractor, Chief Architect : (trembling with fear) But, Sir, that was what I was trying to explain to you the other day. Any taller than this and we will not be able to get the blueprints approved by the Housing Board! Shah Jahan : Who cares what the Housing Board says! I will just stuff their mouths with 1-Rupiya coins! Have those minions even seen what a 1-Rupiya coin looks like in their entire life? Taufeeq Contractor : (sheepishly) I am sorry, Sir, but… Shah Jahan : But what? Taufeeq Contractor : They have declined to accept any bribes in the shape of Paisas or Rupiyas. Shah Jahan : (spitting angrily) What? Taufeeq Contractor : They say that they will only accept Dollars. Shah Jahan : Dollar? What in Allah’s name is that? Taufeeq Contractor : It’s what our cousins on the other side of the world, the NRIs, are using these days. Shah Jahan : (ferociously) These blasted Native Red Indians! I hope someone from Europe goes to the New World and fixes those bloody rats once and for all! Taufeeq Contractor : (almost whispers) : And there is one more thing, Sir. Shah Jahan : What’s that? Taufeeq Contractor : They can’t approve 8 minarets. They say that so many minarets are an earthquake hazard. Shah Jahan : (angrily shakes fist) La haul vila kuvat! I hope they rot in hell! Taufeeq Contractor : I am negotiating with them for six. Hopefully they will agree, otherwise we may have to settle for four. Or two. But it will cost extra. Shah Jahan : And to think we already had to grease quite a few palms to get the riverside plot assigned to us. So, as you can see, even in 16-hundred whatever AD, obtaining the right site, and getting a floor plan passed by the Municipal Corporation was like pulling teeth. And this man was the bloody King, for Christ’s sakes! Then, a few days later… Shah Jahan : (annoyed as usual) Just make sure all the paperwork is pakka. I don’t want anyone in the future trying to take over this whole Taj Corridor and passing it off as their property! Hukum Nawaz, Wazeer-e-Daftar (Chief Secretary) : As you command, Jahan-Panaah. Shah Jahan : Any news on the Underground Parking? Hukum Nawaz : Sorry Sir, but that plan has been rejected. Shah Jahan : (with nostrils starting to flare dangerously) What the hell! Why? Hukum Nawaz : We are too close to the river. It will cause seepage problems. Shah Jahan : Damn it! Now where are we going to park all the horse- and bullock-carts? We needed at least two floors of underground parking! Hukum Nawaz : Sir, we will have to use the area in front. Shah Jahan : And have those four-legged monsters eat all my imported grass and dunk their heads into my expensive fountains? Use your brains, Hukum Nawaz! Hukum Nawaz : Sorry Sir! Shah Jahan : What sorry-shorry! You just have to come up with an alternative plan for the traffic. Meanwhile, the Emperor has to still manage his personal life, and the fourteen sons his loving departed wife left him with. The most obnoxious one is the eldest. Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Mohammad Aurangzeb, or simply Aurangzeb : Papa, come play Emperor-Slave with me! I want to pump you with arrows. Shah Jahan : (irritated) Go away, boy, can’t you see that your father is busy? Aurangzeb : (angrily) But, Pops, you always keep saying that! Why do you never listen to me? Come! These arrows won’t hurt much. Look, they are Made-in-China. Shah Jahan : (equally angrily) I said go away. Don’t you make me angry, boy! Aurangzeb : (even more angrily) You wait till I grow up, Papa. When I am the King, I will lock you up in prison and throw away the key! Shah Jahan : (dismissively) Yeah, yeah, yeah, we will see about that, you Dumbass! Shah Jahan yells to the maid who comes scurrying. Shah Jahan : (authoritatively) Kaneez, take this juvenile delinquent away. And make sure he doesn’t manage to sneak into my chambers again, ok? The maid bows. Then, Shah Jahan calls her close to him to pass on covert instructions. Shah Jahan : (whispering) He likes to butcher people. Just provide him a few slaves so he can play with. Who are we to curtail his natural instincts? At some point in the future, people like him will be very famous. There may even be books and plays about serial killers! The boy is taken away screaming and yelling egregious threats at his father. Meanwhile, the Emperor has another visitor who has been stopped at the door. Hukum Nawaz : Sir, it’s Anarkali. She says she must see you. It’s urgent. The concubine. Alas, there is no hope of getting any serious work done today. The Emperor caves in. Shah Jahan : (mildly irritated) What is it, Anarkali? Just speak quickly, I don’t have any patience with your slow, husky, whispered tone today. Anarkali : (in a huff at being scolded in front of everyone) Ok, I will make it quick. You promised me a new Sheesh Mahal where I could do my dance performances, and where the walls and ceilings would mirror a million reflections of my swirling Anarkali suit and dupatta. What the hell happened to that plan? Shah Jahan : We will get to that by and by. Anarkali : (still annoyed) Delaying tactics! Why are you focused on that dead woman’s mausoleum when you should be focused on me! These damned women, the Emperor says to himself. Anarkali : (starting to cry) Do you really not care that at some point someone will want to make a biopic on my life? What good it will be if there is no item song featuring me in my own grand Sheesh Mahal? Aaaaaand she begins to cry. Anarkali : (for extra effect) Have you no heart? Shah Jahan : (sighing loudly) Ok, ok, my dear, let me see what we can do. Anarkali : (immediately back in control of her tear ducts) Yes, and you had better do it quickly. Suddenly his father’s original idea of entombing the whining woman doesn’t seem like that bad an idea to the Emperor. Anarkali leaves happily. The Chief Secretary and the Emperor are back to discussing the monument. Shah Jahan : Ok, what’s the plan about Labour? Do we have 20,000 labourers ready for the show? Hukum Nawaz : (excitedly) Yes, Sir, we are working on that. We are getting some from Bihar and Jharkhand. Others are being summoned back from the Middle East. Shah Jahan : What about their contracts? Remember it is imperative that they don’t stay on in the construction business after building my property. We can’t have them copying our style elsewhere! And we certainly don’t want them building Casinos in the New World that look like our monument! Hukum Nawaz : Exactly, Sir. That is why we are making them sign a Confidentiality Agreement. Shah Jahan : Sign? Hukum Nawaz : Yes, Sir. Shah Jahan : (blowing his top yet again) Naa muraad! Do you think they can read or write? Sign, he says! You bloody IAS-type idiots! Do you not know anything? Hukum Nawaz : (extremely mortified) Sorry, Sir! We will come up with an alternate plan. Shah Jahan : What alternate plan! Can’t you just cut off their arms after the job is done? Isn’t that simple? Hukum Nawaz : Oh, absolutely, Sir. That can be managed. Shah Jahan : Ok, good. What about all the raw material? I am warning you again – I want only the best quality marble! Hukum Nawaz : Yes, Sir. Absolutely, Sir! We are sourcing it from Rajasthan via NOIDA. The only hitch is hauling it all the way to Agra. Shah Jahan : So what are we going to do about that? Hukum Nawaz : Sir, can I ask you to fast track an Expressway from there? From NOIDA to Agra? That way, our bullock carts can just zip through at double-digit speeds. Shah Jahan : So fast! But is it safe? To drive so fast on the Expressway? What is this – some kind of Formula 1? Hukum Nawaz : Oh, totally safe, Sir. In fact some of our spies in Europe claim that the highways there are so smooth that horses and oxen practically slide on them. And there is no speed limit on those roads either! Shah Jahan : No way! Hukum Nawaz : Yes way, Sir. Shah Jahan : So how can we get this Expressway done quickly? Hukum Nawaz : We should really go ahead and give the approvals for it. In fact, (coughs) some of the interested builders are willing to (cough), you know, write ‘ghazals’ for Jahanpanaah. Shah Jahan : I see. How many ‘ghazals’ are they willing to give…errm, write? Hukum Nawaz : Sir, the going rate is 200 ‘ghazals’. You know, pure gold ‘ghazals’. Shah Jahan : What shit! Tell them nothing less than 500 ‘ghazals’ will do! 200 ‘ghazals’ my fat ass! Hukum Nawaz : I shall let them know, Sir. Shah Jahan : And warn them that if they don’t write me the right number of ‘ghazals’, I will sit on their file forever. Hukum Nawaz : Absolutely, Sir. Yes, Sir. Well, Taj Mahal supposedly took 20 years to build. It used the best marble from Rajasthan and the best stones from wherever else (just Google it, for Heaven’s sake). Quite a handful of a project for the great Shah Jahan who later died in captivity. (That bloody Aurangzeb locked him up, you see!) But, in the end, we all got our Taj Mahal, the only Indian thing that features in Hollywood disaster films when they have to show worldwide destruction of the planet. Meanwhile, one assumes that the right amount of ‘ghazals’ never passed hands between the builders and the government for centuries. The Yamuna Expressway wasn’t inaugurated until 2012. It cuts down journey time between Delhi to Agra from over 6 hours to under 2, possibly the smoothest road in the country where zipping at 160 kmph is a-ok. But will it ever be featured in any Wonder Of The World list? Unlikely. I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st – 7th September 2013. The theme is SEVEN. This post features a person and a monument, both are among the Seven Wonders of the World as far as I am concerned.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR SEMI-TRUCK ACCIDENT INJURY WORTH? We can tell you if you have a case or not within five minutes, Call (888) 488-1391 FREE CONSULTATION · PAY NOTHING UPFRONT · OVER $200 MILLION RECOVERED · 98% CASE SUCCESS RATE A Semi-Truck Accident Attorney in California Helping Victims Recover Compensation If you or someone you care about has been injured in a semi-truck accident, you have endured one of the most terrifying, dangerous, and violent kinds of accidents that occur on our beautiful California roadways. In fact, it’s difficult to overstate exactly how devastating such accidents can be. The negative consequences that arise from accidents involving semi-trucks usually include extreme physical, emotional, and financial damages. If a semi-truck driver has left you or your loved one injured, or worse, in a traffic accident, you need the professional legal services of an experienced California semi-truck accident lawyer. Arash Law is a semi-truck accident law firm in California, and we have been helping victims of truck accidents like you for more than 30 years. Our dedicated semi-truck accident firm is committed to helping you obtain the compensation you deserve! In fact, throughout our tenure, our firm has won thousands of cases and secured millions of dollars in damages for our clients. Our tractor-trailer attorneys are here to help, and we’re available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week! If you’ve been injured in a commercial truck accident, please don’t hesitate to contact us – day or night at (888) 488-1391. California Semi-Truck Basics A semi-truck is only one of the terms used for the massive commercial trucks that roam our highways and byways. Other terms include big rig, 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, and semi-trailer truck. Whatever name you use, however, it refers to an extremely large, heavy, and cumbersome commercial truck that is comprised of two parts: The tractor is the motorized front portion of the semi-truck that houses the driver’s cab and which has a coupling device that connects it to whatever kind of cargo trailer is attached behind it. This coupling device works something like a hinge that allows the tractor and the trailer to move in unison while allowing some flexibility in that movement. The trailer is the long rear portion of the truck that usually has a cargo area connected. Sometimes, tractor-trailers will pull more than one trailer, turning them into what some call “road trains” or “land trains.” Semi-truck accidents are exceedingly dangerous accidents, and semi-truck claims are exceedingly complicated claims. Your rights and the financial compensation to which you are entitled matter far too much, however, not to advocate for justice in your case aggressively. If a big rig leaves you injured, consult with a knowledgeable semi-accident attorney today. Truck Drivers vs. Noncommercial Drivers Truck drivers are professional drivers who move gigantic vehicles across the great State of California with increasing frequency. As such, these drivers are held to far more exacting state and federal regulations than are noncommercial drivers (like the rest of us). - There is an 11-hour driving limit for professional truck drivers, which means that a trucker may not drive more than 11 hours after having at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. - After coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty, truckers may not drive beyond a 14th consecutive hour, and additional time spent off duty does not extend this 14-hour maximum. - Professional truckers can’t drive if more than 8 hours have passed since their last break from duty or from a break in the sleeper berth of at least 30 minutes. - Professional truckers may not drive beyond 60/70 hours in 7/8 consecutive days. A 7/8 consecutive day restart can only occur after being off duty for at least 34 consecutive hours. Truck drivers are held to these strict rules and regulations for one very good reason: to help keep everyone on our roadways safer. Truck drivers make their livings by putting miles behind them, and the booming trucking industry sometimes pushes them beyond the parameters of established regulations. The fact is, however, that overworked truck drivers are dangerous truck drivers. If a negligent truck driver leaves you or your loved one injured, you need the professional guidance that only a dedicated legal team at an 18-wheeler accident law firm can provide. Semi-Truck are Subject to Federal and State Safety Standards Trucking accidents are so potentially dangerous that both the State of California and the federal government impose regulations from nearly every conceivable safety angle: - Far more restrictive standards for obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL), which is necessary to operate a big rig - Far less tolerance for a commercial driver’s use of alcohol and/or drugs – including testing for such usage - Strict regulatory standards related to the transportation of hazardous materials - Closely monitored requirements related to the safety standards and the physical health of commercial truckers and the safety standards of trucking companies The trucking industry and its truckers are closely and carefully regulated by both state and federal government, but deadly accidents have not abated. The fact is that the trucking industry often cuts corners in an effort to continue to maximize profits, and this to the safety detriment of everyone on the road. If the trucking industry’s negligence – in any form – leaves you or your loved one injured, call a tractor-trailer attorney today. Some Semi-Truck Accidents are the Result of Industry-Wide Safety Failures Our nation’s consumer-driven economy is fueled by the massive commercial trucks that traverse our roads. The goods that we continue to clamor for, after all, have to come from somewhere, and we have the trucking industry to thank. As the demand for consumer goods continues to increase, the trucking industry is under more and more pressure to perform. The trucking industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that turns over massive profits, however, and it must adhere to strict rules and regulations to help keep everyone on our road-system safe. When the industry chooses to cut safety corners in order to keep up with demand and to improve their bottom line, they endanger motorists everywhere. Trucking companies have many responsibilities related to safety that they must consistently fulfill or risk being responsible for potentially deadly traffic accidents: - Providing the appropriate regularly scheduled truck maintenance required by federal and state regulations - Implementing all mandated equipment-safety checks - Hiring professional truck drivers who are well qualified and experienced - Hiring professional truck mechanics who are well qualified and experienced - Ensuring that every rig is safely and properly loaded for every trip The trucking industry is critical to our economy, but it is also responsible for taking all the necessary safety precautions as it continues to grow. If a trucking company’s negligence causes you to be injured in a tractor-trailer accident, call a skilled semi-truck attorney today. How to Find Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers Near Me If a big rig accident leaves you injured, you may find yourself wondering, “how can I find experienced semi-truck accident lawyers near me?” The experienced semi-truck accident attorneys at Arash Law in California – a semi-truck accident law firm in business for more than three decades are committed to helping accident victims like you recover on the full extent of your damages. Tractor-trailer accidents are extremely complicated, but our experienced tractor-trailer attorneys have the skill, knowledge, and compassion to aggressively advocate for your claim’s most positive resolution. The fact is that semi accidents are more complex than traffic accidents involving noncommercial vehicles, and if you’ve been injured in such an accident, you need the professional legal counsel of an experienced semi-truck attorney. Semi-Truck Accidents Can Leave Victims with Significant Medical Expenses The 18-wheeler truck accident injuries are often far more serious than those of other types of traffic accidents, and the medical expenses associated reflect this fact: - Emergency care at the scene of the accident and emergency transportation to the hospital - Surgery and post-surgical care - Extended hospital stays and attendant care - Outpatient care - Appointments with medical professionals, including doctors, specialists, therapists, and counselors - Ongoing medical care and follow-up appointments - Prescription medications - Adaptive medical devices and medical equipment - Physical adaptations to the home - Home health care These medical expenses add up very quickly, and the total is likely to be astronomical. Relying upon the insurance company to cover your expenses is not in your best interest; you need a skilled semi-accident attorney on your side. The Work-Related Expenses and Emotional Consequences of a Serious Semi-Truck Crash The journey toward recovery after a big-rig accident is often long and winding, and it is very likely that you won’t be returning to work anytime soon. In fact, many semi-truck accident victims aren’t able to return to the careers they love. The work-related costs associated with commercial truck accidents can be immense: - Many lost hours on the job and subsequent lost wages - The inability to return to your current position - An altered career trajectory - A diminished earning capacity into your future - A permanent disability - The inability to ever work again Most of us, to one extent or another, correlate our careers with our sense of selves, and when a violent semi-truck accident significantly alters or destroys that career, it can be emotionally devastating. Suffering a serious personal injury as a result of someone else’s negligence – like a truck driver’s or a trucking company’s – is exceedingly difficult to come to terms with emotionally. In fact, the emotional and psychological costs of these often deadly accidents can exceed even the immense medical expenses. If you or a loved one is the victim of an 18-wheeler accident, contact a dedicated semi-truck accident lawyer today. Common Truck-Related Causes of Semi Accidents Trucking companies – and their truck drivers – to some extent – are responsible for maintaining rigorous safety standards, including rigidly scheduled maintenance and safety checks on their rigs. Failure to do so can result in deadly accidents on our roadways. There are several common truck-related causes that contribute to many dangerous accidents: - The Truck’s Tires Massive commercial trucks are called 18-wheelers for one very important reason – they ride on 18 giant tires. These tires are what connect these immense and immensely heavy vehicles to the road, and as such, there is a lot of wear and tear involved. When a semi has a tire that is worn or otherwise defective, it can make it very difficult for the trucker to maintain control, which can lead to extremely dangerous driving conditions for everyone in the truck’s midst. Further, a blown tractor-trailer tire often leaves dangerous debris on the road, which can lead to additional accidents. Large chunks of rubber and fast-moving traffic are a dangerous combination. - The Truck’s Brakes Because trucks are many, many times larger and heavier than noncommercial vehicles, they take that much longer to come to complete and safe stops, and their brakes get a good workout in the process. Semis have exceedingly complicated braking systems that must be kept in excellent working order for safety’s sake. When they aren’t or when these brakes are faulty to begin with, it can contribute to very dangerous accidents. - The Truck’s Coupling Device A truck’s coupling device is the hitch that connects the motorized tractor (which houses the trucker’s cab) to the trailer that follows behind. The integrity of this coupling device is essential to a big rig’s ability to travel safely over our highways. A faultily manufactured, damaged, defective, or worn coupling device can lead to horrific accidents, the gravity of which is difficult to overstate. If you are injured in an accident caused by a truck with a defective part – whether it was caused in the manufacturing stage, by inadequate maintenance, and/or by inadequate safety checks – it’s time to consult with a reputable California 18-wheeler accident law firm. Only knowledgeable semi-truck accident attorneys have the necessary experience and commitment to skillfully fight for the compensation that you need to travel the long and difficult path toward your fullest recovery. Semi-Trucks Have Several Danger Zones In addition to faulty truck parts, semi-trucks are so large and cumbersome that they have inherent danger zones that it’s important to pay careful attention to: - A Truck’s Blind Spots Even though truck drivers sit high above the road and seemingly have a great view of everything on the road around them, they actually experience large blind spots on every side of their rigs. If you are traveling in a truck’s blind spot, the truck driver can’t see you and probably doesn’t know you are there. In other words, when you drive in a semi’s blind spot, you are in much greater danger of being injured. A truck’s largest blind spot is on the trucker’s right-hand side, and this makes it especially dangerous to pass on a truck’s right – don’t take the chance. - A Truck’s Center of Gravity Large commercial trucks carry massive amounts of cargo over many, many miles, and they’re built for the long haul. Issues related to the center of gravity can be pivotal in semi accidents. Center of gravity can be affected by the truck’s very design and/or by faulty loading practices often caused by the trucking company This is due to Large commercial Truck drivers, and/or the loading crews attempting to cut corners, save time, and increase profits. When an 18-wheeler’s center of gravity is compromised by any mitigating factor, it can contribute to or cause dangerous rollover accidents and can exacerbate the damage caused in any truck accident. - A Truck’s Design A truck’s very design can contribute to potentially deadly accidents. Trucks that ride very high off the road can be especially dangerous for the tiny (by comparison) cars with which they share the road. This height discrepancy can lead to exceedingly dangerous underride accidents in which a car drives or is pushed under the truck and into its undercarriage. When it comes to the tractor trailers with which we share the road, drivers of regular old cars are always at a distinct safety disadvantage. When big rigs are in your midst, always proceed with extreme caution – the life you save could be your own. If you have been injured in a truck accident, it is in your best interest to consult with a skilled semi-accident attorney as soon after the accident as possible. While you attend to the difficult task of recovering your health, allow your dedicated semi accident attorney to fight for your rights. \|As featured On\| You Need Experienced Attorneys Who Will Fight For You! The Injury Experts at Arash Law make this painful process easy as A-B-C Call Arash Law at Semi-Truck Accidents Are Unfortunately Common Semi-trucks are everywhere, and they aren’t going away anytime soon. In fact, our economy is driven by semis that deliver all those consumer goods that we need – and want. Ours is a consumer-based economy, and the trucking industry coupled with consumer demand keeps things moving forward. As the industry continues to expand, the statistics related to commercial truck accidents forwarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation) continue to be more and more sobering: - Occupants of the noncommercial vehicles involved in commercial truck accidents have a far greater risk of being injured in a commercial truck accident than do truckers – these occupants made up 97 percent of all such fatalities in 2015. - In 2015, almost 4,000 people were killed in tractor-trailer accidents nationwide. - In the period from 2009 to 2015, the number of semi-accident fatalities rose by 22 percent. - In 2015, 11 percent of all traffic fatalities involved a tractor-trailer. The fact is that semi-truck accidents happen, and they are often deadly. If your family has been affected by a fatal commercial truck accident, do not hesitate to reach out to a semi-truck accident law firm for professional legal guidance today. Fatigued Semi-Truck Drivers Put Everyone at Risk of Serious Injury It’s a fact that the trucking industry continues to grow exponentially, and it often cuts safety corners in an effort to keep up and to keep the profits robust. In so doing, truck drivers – who make their livings behind the wheels of their rigs – can be pushed beyond the bounds of safely manning a massive 18-wheeler. While it’s easy to recognize the pressure that these truckers are under, they are nevertheless responsible for adhering to all federal and state laws / HOS regulations. Truckers who fail to do so are often fatigued, and fatigued truckers are dangerous truckers: - Fatigued truckers react less quickly and less well - Fatigued truckers have shorter attention spans and are more easily distracted (distraction is another critical danger) - Fatigued truckers are less alert - Fatigued truckers are more likely to make decisions that aren’t safe – as evidenced by the fact that they chose to ignore HOS regulations in the first place The trucking industry is ever expanding, but it is charged with assuming the paramount responsibility of incorporating safety regulations in the growth process. When a trucking company puts profits before safety, they make our highway and byways less safe for everyone who travels upon them. If you are the victim of a tractor-trailer accident, you need the professional legal services of an experienced semi-truck attorney. Distracted Semi-Truck Drivers are a Serious Public Safety Concern Distracted truck drivers are another major safety concern. When we get behind the wheels of our vehicles, we shoulder the immense responsibility of driving safely, and one major component of this task is not allowing ourselves to be distracted by anything other than driving. Driving a large vehicle safely is a trucker’s job, but along with this primary task come many administrative tasks that involve keeping intricate log-books that record miles traveled, HOS, gas breaks, regularly scheduled safety checks, and more. When truckers allow these additional work tasks to distract them from driving safely, they increase the risk that they will be involved in dangerous traffic accidents. Further, truckers are vulnerable to the same distractions that any other driver might be, including the siren song of the almighty smartphone. The difference is that truckers are professional drivers who maneuver potentially deadly machines over many, many miles, and it is unacceptable to eyeball one’s phone while behind the wheel of a big rig. Injured in an Accident? Consult with an Experienced California Big Rig Attorney Today If an accident involving a tractor trailer leaves you or someone you love injured, it’s time to contact an 18-wheeler accident law firm. The dedicated legal team at Arash Law in California has the experience, skill, and compassion to help guide your claim toward its best possible resolution. Your rights and continuing recovery are far too important to leave to chance – or the insurance company involved. We’re here to help you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week – whenever you need us – so to find semi-truck accident lawyers near me, (888) 488-1391 today.
This will be the final Pittsburgh Steelers draft big board before the NFL Combine that starts February 17th. You’re unlikely to see anyone “shoot up the boards” due to their combine numbers but the workouts could go a long way in confirming some thoughts or doubts on players. In order to hopefully spur on more discussion and keep things dynamic I’ve again included 10 more players. I’ve added some more defensive lineman, a couple tight ends, and a couple secondary players. Samford safety Jaquiski Tartt is a guy being talked about a lot and he warrants a much closer look. I will continue to add 10 names a week and we should have a pretty sizeable board by the time the 2015 NFL Draft rolls around. I’ve shortened up the notes on some players to make this list a little more readable as it grows. If you’re curious to see full notes on players check out the first three versions of this big board. Please remember this is a fluid board that is subject to change as we move further along in the process. If you have some players you think should be on there that aren’t or you see a guy that you think shouldn’t even be in the discussion feel free to tell me but also include why you think that in your comment. Let’s have some more interesting discussions as we get full swing into draft season. So without further ado here is the Steelers Depot Big Board 4.0 1) Alvin “Bud” Dupree – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Kentucky – 6’4″ 270 lbs. – Dupree as we’ve pointed out could be very good in the elephant thanks to his size, agility, and ability. However, beyond excelling in a hypothetical elephant role I think he would be a great fit as a 3-4 OLB in the Steelers traditional defensive scheme. I love his ability to drop and the more I watch of him the more I like. 2) Dante Fowler Jr. – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Florida – 6’3″ 265 lbs. – I doubt he makes it to the Steelers but Fowler is built like a Steelers linebacker. I worry about his ability to set the edge in the run game but his pass rushing abilities are intriguing. He has violent hands and some excellent pass rush moves and counters. 3) Maxx Williams – Tight End – Minnesota – 6’4″ 250 lbs. – Maxx is easily the top tight end in this class. He might be off the board before the Steelers pick because of it being such a weak tight end class. He’s a true dual threat tight end. His body control makes him a threat on the sidelines and in the red zone where the Steelers have really struggled. 4) Marcus Peters – Cornerback – Washington – 6’0″ 190 lbs. – If I was going off pure natural talent he might be #1. He’s a phenomenal athlete with good size. He can play press man, off man, and in zone. Short area quickness is impressive. He is an absolute head case off the field. 5) Landon Collins – Strong Safety – Alabama – 6’0″ 220 lbs. – Not sure the Steelers want to draft a strong safety with Shamarko Thomas waiting in the wings but they might not be able to pass on the talent of Collins if he’s there. In the past I’ve focused on what Collins can’t do but man there is so much he is great at. He would be an instant enforcer in the secondary (and he wraps up the ball carrier unlike a current Steelers free safety). He looks really good in zone. 6) Trae Waynes – Cornerback – Michigan State – 6-1″ 183 lbs. – This is a weak cornerback class but I think Waynes could be a good fit in Pittsburgh. Plays a lot like Kyle Fuller. He’s a versatile corner that can be your #1 corner. He has great awareness and ball skills. 7) Brandon Scherff – Offensive Tackle/Guard – Iowa – 6’5″ 320 lbs. – Iowa has produced some really great NFL offensive line talent over the past few years. He can play tackle, probably even left tackle, but I think he could be a monster at guard. He has the power to get great push. He has the athleticism and lateral agility to pull and get to the second level. Needs to be more tenacious in pass protection. I’m not sure he falls to the Steelers but if he did he could combine with Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro to make a nasty interior of that offensive line. 8) Quinten Rollins – Cornerback – Miami of Ohio – 5’11” 203 lbs. – Rollins is a former basketball player with only one year of college football experience. He is extremely raw but extremely talented. He’s going to need some serious coaching at the next level. Tremendous upside. 9) Jalen Collins – Cornerback – LSU – 6’2″ 195 lbs. – Collins is an intriguing size/speed prospect. He’s a big corner but he doesn’t defend the run as well as he should for a guy his size 10) Shane Ray – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Missouri – – 6’3” 245 lbs. – Ray is a fantastic athlete with elite athleticism. He’s got crazy speed around the edge. He has a really high motor and he can get great bend but it’s not consistent. He might be best suited within a 4-3 scheme being used in the same way Von Miller is. 11) Randy Gregory – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Nebraska – 6’6″ 240 lbs. – Long, rangy athlete plays similar to Browns outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo. Explosive first step when standing up. He can use a bevy of different pass rush moves. He’s able to get off blocks pretty effectively. He was a key member of the Huskers defense that got kicked in the teeth when Melvin Gordon ran roughshod for 408 yards on them. He just cannot set the edge. 12) Jordan Phillips – Defensive Tackle – Oklahoma – 6’6″ 334 lbs. – He’s a huge guy that plays like a smaller player (in a good way). A guy his size shouldn’t be that explosive. He can line up at nose tackle but he would also cause some serious headaches for offensive lines in sub packages. He can eat space and allow linebackers to flow or he can be a dangerous penetrator. 13) Clive Walford – Tight End – Miami – 6’4″ 258 lbs. – Walford made himself some money at the Senior Bowl. He offers great value because he can line up as an H-back, in the slot and as an in-line blocker. I like him as an in-line blocker best and I think he uses his long arms well. Doesn’t have the best hands. He doesn’t have blazing speed to be a big time deep threat. Definitely needs work in his route running. He’s a very physical guy who could offer some value in the right round. 14) Vic Beasley – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Clemson – 6’2″ 235 lbs. – Beasley is stupid fast for an outside linebacker prospect. His first step is incredibly explosive. But honestly he reminds me too much of a player already on the Steelers roster: Jarvis Jones. Beasley was moved around a lot in 2014 and some of his production was inflated as a result. He can’t shed blocks. 15) Ifo Ekpre-Olomu – Cornerback – Oregon – 5-9″ 195 lbs. – He was viewed as one of the top cornerback prospects until his terrible knee injury. He lacks the height you would expect in a top-flight cornerback but he has some absolutely elite athletic skills. I still love Ifo’s ability but his knee injury likely has him falling out of the first two rounds. The more tape I watch of Ifo the more I think he’s going to be a special player. 16) Derron Smith – Safety – Fresno State – 5’11” 195 lbs. – He’s an incredible ballhawk that can cover receivers and provide solid run support in the box. He’s got great vision and awareness but he still takes poor angles. Height and weight are a concern when he’s going up against tight ends. Could provide much needed playmaking ability in the secondary. 17) P.J. Williams – Cornerback – Florida State – 6’0″ 195 lbs. – Williams has good size and an impressive resume as the defensive MVP of the 2014 BCS National Championship. Plays a lot of press-man. He has a reckless style of play which is great when he’s making hits but it causes him to overpursue and misdiagnose plays sometimes. 18) Danny Shelton -Defensive Tackle – Washington – 6’2″ 339 lbs. – Big nose tackle who can take on double teams. He uses his hands well. A rare nose tackle who can likely stay on the field for all 3 downs. He was crazy productive in 2014 but its deceiving. Six of his nine sacks were in two games against Hawaii and Eastern Washington. I wish he pushed the pocket more consistently. 19) Hau’Oli Kikaha – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Washington – 6’2 1/2″ 246 lbs. – I just did a full write-up on Kikaha (insert link here). I don’t think he has a really high ceiling but I think he can quickly become a contributor. I’m not as concerned with his injury history as some. 20) Alex Carter – Cornerback – Stanford – 6’0″ 202 lbs. – He’s got good size. I like him a lot as a press corner. He also looks comfortable playing zone. He’ll help out in run support. If he doesn’t jam his man well in press he’s not great in man coverage. Not a guy with great deep speed. I need to see more tape on him. 21) Owamagbe Odighizuwa – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – UCLA – 6’3″ 270 lbs. – He wins the hardest name in the Draft to pronounce contest. He’s extremely strong and can be a great run defender from day one. Relentless motor but he’s not very polished as a pass rusher. The more I see of him the more I like. He’s moving up slowly. 22) La’el Collins – Offensive Tackle/Guard – LSU – 6’5″ 321 lbs. – Collins could probably play right tackle but I think he’d be a fringe Pro Bowler at guard. He’s got a nice mean streak to him. I like him as a pass protector but the only problem with him moving to guard is he sometimes struggles with interior pass rushers (especially faster guys). He plays a little high sometimes. 23) Tyler Kroft – Tight End – Rutgers – 6’6″ 240 lbs. – I love Kroft’s size and versatility. I think he can play in-line, get split out wide or be an H-back. He’s a crazy good blocker, which could give him instant starting potential. He can be a deep threat too. I worry about his hands and the fact that he doesn’t seem like a natural route runner at times. Intriguing guy. 24) Preston Smith – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Mississippi State – 6’6″ 270 lbs. – Our own Alex Kozora did a great write up on Smith. I think he’s a big, versatile guy who can put offensive skill position players in a hurt locker.. Not overly fast, not extremely flexible. I like how he sets the edge and I love his length. 25) Eli Harold – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Virginia – 6’4″ 250 lbs – Harold was a 2 year starter in Charlottesville who contributed greatly to an outstanding Cavaliers defense. He doesn’t show great flexibility when rushing and lets linemen get into his chest too easily. 26) Kevin Johnson – Cornerback – Wake Forest – 6’0″ 175 lbs. – He’s got the length you want in a premier corner but none of the bulk. He has a really slight frame and I’m not sure he really can bulk up. 27) David Johnson – Running Back – Northern Iowa – 6’1″ 229 lbs. – He’s a big boy who can be an asset in the passing game. I love his jump cut ability. Johnson’s not very quick though. He was a guy that really popped at the East-West Shrine Game and Senior Bowl though. Scouts on scene noted that his leadership skills were evident as he was firing up teammates. These are the kind of reports you want to hear. 28) Cameron Erving – Florida State – 6’5” 310 lbs. – Tackle/Guard/Center – Erving is an extremely versatile lineman with a rare combination of size and athleticism. The more tape I watched on him the less impressed I became. I think he goes too high for what his true value is. 29) Laken Tomlinson – Offensive Guard – 6’3″ 330 lbs. – I like Tomlinson because of the fact that he’s strong and can push guys around. I don’t like the fact that he doesn’t always use great technique and he lacks the athleticism to pull and to get to the next level. I do see potential for growth, especially under Mike Munchak. Ramon Foster isn’t old but he isn’t irreplaceable either. 30) Nate Orchard – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Utah – 6’3″ 251 lbs. – I’m not as high on Orchard as some but I see the talent there. Good hand placement. He has enough strength at the point of attack to set the edge. He’s got pretty good size. To me he just doesn’t do anything extraordinarily well. Too much finesse for my liking. He doesn’t dip the edge like I’d like to see. Haven’t watched all his available games yet so he might still change my mind. 31) Malcolm Brown – Defensive Tackle – Texas – 6’2″ 320 lbs. – Very athletic with quick feet for a big guy. Good football IQ. He’s got a great nose for the football (sniffs out run plays very well). He’s got the ability to disengage from blocks and moves down the offensive line which would make him great at defending against zone schemes the Steelers have been burned by. His motor needs to go a little longer. He needs to hold the point of attack better against man power schemes. 32) Arik Armstead – Defensive Tackle/Defensive End – Oregon – 6’8″ 290 lbs. – He has got crazy length and size. Armstead is an explosive athlete who uses his leverage and size well. Gets off blocks consistently. He’s an athletic freak with tons of ability but not much in terms of production. He doesn’t have any counters when pass rushing and he plays too high. 33) Ronald Darby – Cornerback Florida State – 5’11” 195 lbs. – Very fast corner. Darby is a special teams contributor. He’s a good cover corner who can be physical but also use his speed to eliminate separation. Good recovery speed too. Good at breaking up passes but he’s not a ballhawk. He’s a little bit up and down in his play. Some possible character concerns as he was witness in the Jameis Winston sexual assault allegations. 34) Jaquiski Tartt – Strong Safety – Samford – 6’1″ 218 lbs. – He’s one of the best small school prospects there is in this class. Excellent in run support. He’s got great vision in the secondary. Nasty tackler who will wrap the ball carrier up. Very aggressive. He doesn’t have great long speed or great recovery speed. You can’t really use him as a single high safety. He’s a taller Shamarko Thomas 35) David Cobb – Running Back – Minnesota – 5’11” 220 lbs. – He’s a physical runner who is going to do his best work after first contact. I like his patience in setting up blocks. Not a great receiver out of the backfield though. Not a guy that does great on outside runs. He’s got ball security issues. I like him in a zone running scheme and I think he could be a great compliment back to Le’Veon Bell. 36) Markus Golden – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker- Missouri – 6’3″ 260 lbs. -He’s a good tackler with a pretty high motor and excellent football intelligence. He’s a bull rusher with a mediocre pass-rushing repertoire. He lacks great lateral agility. Just doesn’t have great bend or great speed. 37) Ali Marpet – Center/Guard – Hobart – 6’4″ 310 lbs. – Marpet impressed a lot of people at the Senior Bowl. Extremely consistent. He’s a small school guy with respectable strength, who uses his hands well. He’s got good leverage and uses great technique. Marpet will get knocked hard for playing Division III competition but he dominated as you would hope. I think he could play center or guard in a zone scheme. He would be a great eventual replacement for Ramon Foster. 38) Steven Nelson – Cornerback – Oregon State – 5’11” 194 lbs. – He’s got decent but not great size. He seems like a typical Steelers cornerback (minus the length) because he’s a big tackler and never backs down in the run game. Good closing speed but not great acceleration. He’s a little too quick to take a holding penalty. He’ll punish receivers and give you a lot in a Dick LeBeau style defense but he’ll never be a top cover corner. 39) Lorenzo Mauldin – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Louisville – 6’4″ 252 lbs. – I love the motor on this kid. He’s very physical and I like his vision on the field. However… he doesn’t bend well. He plays too high. He can’t convert speed to power well at all. But he plays the run pretty well. Might not become an All Pro but he’s a solid football player you’d like to have as depth at least. 40) Carl Davis – Defensive Tackle/Defensive End – Iowa – 6’5″ 315 lbs. – He projects as a 5 technique in the 3-4 but I think he’s better suited as a defensive tackle in a 4-3. Good at shedding blocks. Powerful against double teams. Great leverage. Able to quickly diagnose plays. He needs a lot more stamina. Not very explosive for a guy that will likely be a high draft pick. A little too much of a Ziggy Hood type player but I need to watch some more tape on him. 41) Jesse James – Tight End – Penn State – 6’7″ 254 lbs. – This kid is incredibly tall even for a tight end. He needs a little more meat on the bones. He’s an average run blocker at best. I like his ability to get open in zones and I love his height in the red zone. He’s not a smooth route runner at all though. He’s not as physical as he should be, either, for a guy his size. Hard to say what his true potential is at the next level. 42) T.J. Yeldon – Running Back – Alabama – 6’2″ 221 lbs. -. I like Yeldon more than most people. Some people dislike his upright running style but this was a knock on Bell coming out as well. He’s got a good frame. He has quick feet. I like his jump cuts and his crazy good lateral agility. Now, for the bad news. Yeldon’s not very good in pass protection. I think he could be an excellent backup to Lev Bell. 43) Devin Funchess – Tight End/Wide Receiver – Michigan – 6’5″ 230 lbs. – Nobody knows whether he’s going to be used as a TE or wideout. I like him much better as a tight end. He presents mismatch opportunities. He could stand to add some more weight to his frame. He’s a long strider. Have to watch more game tape to see how his blocking holds up. 44) Quandre Diggs – Cornerback – Texas – 5’10” 195 lbs. – Diggs is an intriguing cornerback prospect. He’s a four-year starter that played in the slot and outside. I worry that he doesn’t have the size to play on the perimeter (although the same could be said about Olomu) He’s a smooth, fluid athlete with great football IQ. He’s not ultra fast though and I’m not sure he has the short area quickness to deal with some of the smaller, shiftier slot receivers. 45) Ben Koyack – Tight End – Notre Dame 6’5″ 254 lbs. – Koyack is next in a long line of excellent Notre Dame tight ends. He’s got the size you want at the position. He’s quick in and out of his breaks. Koyack’s hands are strong and he attacks the ball. Fantastic run blocker who has good leverage. He’s a tough player. Not an explosive athlete. Still pretty raw. He could develop into a starting tight end quickly though. 46) A.J. Cann – Offensive Guard – South Carolina – 6’4″ 311 lbs. – Best true guard in this weak guard class. Excellent drive blocker. He’s athletic enough to block in space and pull. Smart player. Great at anchoring against the bull rush. He’s a little too slow at times against speed rushers inside. Plays low but loses his balance too often from lunging instead of punching. I’ll be interested to see what kind of length he has. 47) Cody Prewitt – Free Safety – Mississippi – 6’2″ 217 lbs. – I like his size and build. He doesn’t have the natural agility and explosiveness you’d like. I doubt he will test well at the Combine. Good closing speed though. He’s not the banger you would expect given his size. I watched more tape on Cody and I was not impressed. He’s just too indecisive and not physical enough. 48) Jacoby Glenn – Cornerback – UCF – 6’0″ 186 lbs. – He’s got the height but you’d like to see some more meat on his bones. Glenn is a physical corner who uses his hands well. Does a good job mirroring routes. He can play off as well as man. H’s got a bit of a robotic back pedal. His deep speed is lacking. 49) Trey Flowers – Defensive End/Outside Linebacker – Arkansas – 6’3″ 270 lbs. – Great technician as an edge rusher but he’s still a little raw. Not an elite athlete. Lacks explosion or a great first step. Not sure where he fits in the Steelers defense. Not big enough to be a 3-4 end not athletic enough to be a 3-4 outside linebacker. You’d like to see more bend too. 50) Jeff Heureman – Tight End – Ohio State – 6’5″ 255 lbs. – Great pass catcher who can track the ball well. Has soft hands. Great understanding of finding openings in zone coverage. Great leadership traits. Not explosive enough to be a major vertical threat. Not a good pass protector. Mediocre run blocker who gets pushed around too much. Below average production in college.
The terms below are words and phrases found in the novel which may not be familiar to the reader. The definitions relate to their usage in the text and are not comprehensive. They are common to the U. S. Army and may be different in other branches of the military. aide-de-camp – a personal assistant whose responsibility it is to coordinate the personal affairs of the general-grade officer to whom he is appointed. The rank of the aide-de-camp is a function of the rank of the general officer: a 1st lieutenant with brigadier general or major general, for example. air operations – military activity involving aircraft: most commonly the use of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for the tactical support of infantry units in combat or for transportation and logistical support AK-47 – the standard-issue 7.62 mm assault rifle used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese infantry soldier ao dai – the woman’s traditional Vietnamese tunic-type dress, split up the outside of either leg, usually worn over black trousers, and normally made of white silk artillery – large caliber weapons that operate by projecting explosives far beyond the range of personal weapons. The branch of the army that customarily operates these weapons banyan tree – a tree common to southern Asia that puts out aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks barracks – military housing for enlisted personnel with shared sleeping and bathing facilities base, base perimeter – a permanent or semi-permanent area used for tactical operations, such as positioning an artillery battery, as a supply depot, or a rear echelon administrative center. The perimeter refers to the man-made defensive position built of a connecting series of protective bunkers and barbed wire fencing. battery – a tactical unit of artillery consisting of at least 100 officers and men, howitzers, and supporting vehicles and equipment battalion – a military unit made up of at least two company – or battery-sized units and including headquarters and other supporting units bayonet – a knife-like weapon designed to fit onto the end of a rifle barrel, effectively turning the rifle into a spear for use in close-quarter combat B-40 – a variant of the Russian-made, shoulder-held, rocket-propelled grenade launcher used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese (see RPG) Bien Hoa – a city in Dong Nai Province, South Vietnam, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Saigon and adjacent to Long Binh Post and the II Field Force compound billet (transit officer) – housing for military personal. Housing reserved for officers in transit body bag – a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body, used for the storage and transportation of corpses boom-boom, boom-boom fever – slang term for sex or the preoccupation with sex bracket the target – an artillery term referring to the practice of zeroing in on a target before firing for effect bunker, bunker complex – a shelter, hardened against attack, sometimes buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants, and usually used for a defensive fighting position Back to Top cadet battalion commander – ranking student cadet officer in an ROTC (Reserved Officers’ Training Corps) program at college or university captain – a junior officer military rank one grade above first lieutenant chopper, chopper pad – slang for helicopter. The landing platform for a helicopter or its associated facilities colonel (bird, full, lieutenant) – colonel (full or bird) is a senior officer rank just below the rank of brigadier general. Lieutenant colonel is one grade below colonel. combat ribbons – military decorations in the form of ribbons worn on the uniform to recognize service and personal accomplishments while serving in combat as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces company (headquarters) – a military unit typically consisting of 75-200 soldiers and usually commanded by a captain and made up of three to five platoons CPR training – cardiopulmonary resuscitation: the reestablishing of heart and lung action Delta – the delta region of the Mekong River south of Saigon DEROS – Date Eligible for Return from Overseas. The date when a soldier was to leave Vietnam to return home Donut Dolly – affectionate term for a volunteer Red Cross girl, who visited military personnel in the field to boost morale and served as a liaison with a soldier’s family in case of emergency. The name originated in World War I in France with Salvation Army volunteers, known as Donut Girls. In World War II it became Donut Dolly. Back to Top efficiency report – military equivalent of a personal job performance evaluation enlisted man – a member of the armed forces who ranks below a commissioned officer or warrant officer fire direction center (FDC) – the section within an artillery battery that computes a solution to a fire mission and relays the resultant commands to the howitzer section fire for effect – an artillery command directing concentrated fire once a target has been zeroed in upon, and usually includes the firing of all howitzers in the battery fire mission – a tactical military operation involving the receipt of target information, the computation of a firing solution, the commands to the artillery weapons, and the firing of those weapons fire support base, fire base (FSB) – a military encampment, typically including a single battery, designed to provide artillery support to infantry operating in areas beyond the range of personal weapons FNG (Fucking New Guy) – a derogatory term, used within the military in Vietnam, directed specifically at replacement personnel who have recently joined a pre-existing unit Fort Sill, Oklahoma – an active U.S. Army installation, home of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School forward observer (FO) – an observer or spotter operating with frontline troops and trained to adjust artillery gunfire fragged (to frag) – to attack with a fragmentation grenade a superior in one’s chain of command with the intent to kill Back to Top G-2 – the functional section within the army general staff responsible for military intelligence GI – familiar term describing members of the U.S. Armed Forces or items of their equipment – derived from “Government Issue” Graves Registration Office – the organization responsible for the identification and processing of deceased military personnel and the disposition of their personal effects grenade (fragmentation, smoke) – a small hand-thrown explosive device used as an anti-personal weapon or to display colored smoke for positional identification gunnery technique – the procedures associated with the identification of targets, the computation of firing solutions, the commands to the howitzers, and the firing and maintenance of those weapons half track – a military vehicle with regular wheels on the front for steering and caterpillar tracks on the back to propel the vehicle hooch, hooch maid – a simple dwelling. Any kind of housing unit used to house military personnel. They were often cleaned by local Vietnamese women or maids. howitzer – a relatively short barrel, large caliber artillery weapon that projects explosive shells far beyond the range of personal weapons Huey – the nickname for the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter used as a gunship and to transport troops into combat. The original designation of HU-1 led to its nickname. Back to Top incoming – enemy mortar, rocket, or artillery fire that could often be heard as a whistling sound as the projectile passed nearby overhead (see outgoing) in-country – physical presence in Vietnam infantry – the branch of the army consisting primarily of soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot for the purpose of engaging the enemy in face-to-face combat Back to Top khakis – the “dust-colored” summer uniform, which was worn in lieu of combat fatigues when traveling to and from Vietnam and for formal occasions latrine – military term for a toilet facility usually consisting of a communal space with multiple seats leave – formal permission to be away from one’s unit for a specific period of time (see R & R) lieutenant – the lowest military officer rank with two grades – 2nd, then 1st lieutenant Long Binh Post – a major U.S. Army headquarters and logistics depot near the city of Bien Hoa and adjacent to the II Field Force compound Back to Top mama-san – an older Vietnamese woman MEDEVAC – medical evacuation. The timely and efficient movement of wounded personnel from the battlefield, usually by a specially equipped helicopter medic (combat medic) – a trained military soldier who is responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield mess (enlisted, officers’) – a facility where military personnel gather to eat Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) – the U.S. unified command structure for all military forces in South Vietnam during the war, located at the Tan Son Nhut Air Base on the outskirts of Saigon mortar – a highly portable weapon firing explosive projectiles with a smaller caliber, much lower velocity, shorter range, and a higher ballistic arc than artillery ordnance Nam – short for “Vietnam” NCO – a non-commissioned officer. An enlisted member of the military with a degree of authority, who has usually been promoted from within the non-officer ranks North Vietnamese Politburo – the executive committee of senior government officials elected by the North Vietnamese Communist Party which determines government policy and oversees its day-to-day implementation Back to Top officer (commissioned, duty, junior, senior, warrant) – a member of the armed forces who holds a position of authority. A commissioned officer is formally granted this authority by a sovereign or political leader. A junior officer has the rank of lieutenant or captain. A senior officer holds the rank of major, colonel, and general. A warrant officer is a highly skilled specialist, ranking above enlisted personal but with limited command authority, such a helicopter pilot. Officers’ Club (O-club) – a facility found on most military bases, reserved for officers, which serves as a center for dining and socializing olive-drab – a color, a dark olive green, which is the standard color used by the U.S. Army for uniforms and equipment off-limits – restricted entry to a physical area or facility OSS – Office of Strategic Services, the pre-cursor of the Central Intelligence Agency, created in WWII to collect and analyze strategic information and to conduct special operations in support of the war effort outgoing – friendly artillery fire that could often be heard as a whistling sound as the projectile passed nearby overhead (see incoming) papa-san – an older Vietnamese man Paris Peace Talks – negotiations in Paris to find a peace agreement from 1969 to 1973. A peace treaty was finally signed on January 27, 1973, which intended to establish peace in Vietnam and end the war. It ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South. Paris Revolution 1968 (“May ’68”) – a general strike of students and workers which brought the French economy to a standstill and lasted about a month. It was a social revolt against modern consumer and technological society as well. pedicab – a man-powered vehicle with three wheels and a double seat in the front used to transport people, usually in an urban environment platoon – a military unit usually consisting of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. post – a facility that shelters military equipment and personnel and facilitates training and operations PX – short for Post Exchange, a shopping facility open only to the military and usually located on or near a military installation Back to Top Quonset hut – a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semicircular cross section. From Quonset Point, a location in Rhode Island where the structures were first manufactured quarters – a place of residence such as the buildings or barracks used to house military personnel R & R – short for rest and recuperation. A term used to describe the free time usually awarded a soldier who had been in Vietnam for at least six months. It involved a government-paid, one-week holiday in one of several countries outside of Vietnam, Thailand, for example. radioman – a soldier whose responsibility it is to carry and operate a radio and be at the side of the commanding officer to facilitate radio communications RC compound – the American Red Cross headquarters facility in Saigon Red Cross girl – a female, college graduate volunteer with the American Red Cross in Vietnam. Frequently call a Donut Dolly or a Delta Delta REMF – short for Rear Echelon Mother Fucker. A derogatory term to describe those officers and enlisted men who performed logistical and administrative duties but were not involved in combat operations revetment – a barricade of earth, sandbags, or other material set up to provide protection from enemy fire, particularly shell fragments from exploding projectiles rocket, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) – an unguided explosive device, typically cylindrical, containing liquid or solid propellants which drives the warhead forward, as opposed to an artillery projectile, which is not self-propelled. Examples include the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and the 122 mm Katyusha rocket. ROTC – Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. A program sponsored by the military and found at U.S. colleges and universities which provides training for students during a four-year period who seek to enter the military as officers. In addition to his academic diploma the student is awarded a commission and the rank of 2nd lieutenant or the equivalent at graduation. round, 105 round, AK-47 round, M-16 round – the projectile fired from one of these weapons Back to Top salvo – a single firing of weapons in unison, particularly artillery weapons II Field Force − a corps-level command in Vietnam with headquarters near Long Binh Post and with an area of responsibility comprising the eleven provinces surrounding Saigon shell, shell casing – the projectile, as in artillery shell, or that part of the cartridge (the casing, usually of brass) that contains the explosive powder to which the projectile is attached short-timer – a soldier who has only a few weeks or days remaining before his tour of duty ends and he is sent home Signal Corps – a branch of the army responsible for military communications: radio, telephone, and digital specialist (spec-4) – a junior non-commissioned officer rank in the army equivalent to corporal and awarded to individuals with a high degree of experience and technical knowledge spook – slang term for spy or intelligence operative Tactical Operations Center (TOC) – a small group of specially trained military personnel who provide guidance to the members of an active tactical force during a mission in the field Tan Son Nhut Air Base (Airport) – a civilian and military air transport facility located on the outskirts of Saigon, which served the South Vietnamese and American air forces during the war tour of duty – a fixed period of time military personnel were assigned to a particular posting. In the U.S. Army in Vietnam the tour of duty was normally 12 months. Travis Air Force Base (Travis) – the military facility in Northern California from which most of the flights carrying military personnel to Vietnam originated trishaw – term for pedicab in Burma Back to Top UVA – University of Virginia Viet Cong – the shortened name for the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), a political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the United States and South Vietnamese government forces during the period 1955 to 1975 Viet Minh – the shortened Vietnamese expression for “League for the Independence of Vietnam,” a national independence movement founded in South China in 1941, which opposed French colonial occupation, Japanese occupation during WWII, and later the American presence in South Vietnam Vietnamization Program – U.S. policy developed during the Nixon administration which encompassed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam and the training and equipping of South Vietnamese forces to continue the war against the Communists insurgents and North Vietnamese forces Back to Top West Point – home of the United States Military Academy, a four-year coeducational military service school located at West Point, New York WWII – abbreviation for the Second World War Zippo – a brand of cigarette lighter, often engraved, popular with soldiers in Vietnam
Sorry not sorry that the baby spam starts now…! I’d look away if this isn’t your thing… 🙂 you’ve been warned! In this post I’ll cover: - Mummy youtubers - The technical stuff – tests, OPKs, sperm friendly lube etc! But first, I just need a quick natter with you guys! It’s crazyyyyyyy to be expecting our little cub after so much planning…! I am the kind of crazy person who before we even started trying (like, months before) had done ALL the research, read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, read all the blogs and articles and magazines and watched all the youtube videos. I was on special supplements well over 4 months before we started trying and went to see my nutritionist to discuss my ‘planning to conceive’ diet and check my supplements, and had loads of chats with Boy about his nutrition and supplements too and he was even taking the Wellman Pregnacare trying to conceive ones before we were trying – we were checking his zinc levels and all sorts haha! (You can buy the Pregnacare Him & Her pack for couples here which will have you both covered!) I get that not everyone would want to be that prepped, and also that some people are more spontaneous – totally fair! We’d known for about a year that we were ready, and we just wanted to wait for the wedding in December to be sorted so I could enjoy my champagne (!), my training contract to end so I was a fully qualified lawyer, and Boy’s probation to be over as he changed jobs during the year. We then had a month to get healthy and back on track post Xmas, so the trying point was set to Jan 2020 and we expected it to take 6 months to a year to conceive (that’s totally normal for healthy couples our age). I know that doesn’t match what we told people our plans were, but we wanted to keep it private and pressure free. Also, it seems it paid off, because we had expected to be trying for a year and then bam! First try, we had a little cub! So, OTT though all that planning might be (I can’t help being over-prepared!), it means I’ve collated some useful resources that you may or may not fancy trying if you’re a mum, about to become one, or just super keen to know what you’re in for before you start your TTC journey (trying to conceive for anyone who hasn’t yet stalked all the mummy corners of the internet!). So much of this stuff is personal taste and unique to you, so you might haaaate the things I love, but here are just a few resources that helped me feel prepared! These are my pregnancy & #TTC favourites, covering everything from nutrition, wellbeing, keeping baby healthy, fertility and maximising your chances of conceiving, baby psychological development, and keeping sane on the pregnancy new mum journey… plus the ever-terrifying and intriguing topic of labour/childbirth aka the stuff of most girls’ nightmares! Knowing more can take some of the fear out, so get reading gals. I took these for 4+ months before we started trying which is potentially overkill, but 3-4 months in advance is good, and 3 months ahead of trying is apparently when you ideally need to begin building up your folic acid stores especially. We also got these joint packs about 2 months before so Boy could be on the right stuff too: As soon as I was pregnant I switched to these Pregnacare Plus ones which also include omega 3s for brain and eye development 🙂 Of course, being a book obsessive, before we were even trying I ordered a tonne of stuff to get reading up on everything I wanted to know on Amazon. These are the ones I’d recommend you give a go too! For me, I just felt like if you’re going to try for a baby, obviously you want TTC information, but also it’s important to know what you’re in for! The most useful were easily the Henrietta Norton Pregnancy Nutrition Guide, Your Baby Your Birth by Hollie De Cruz, Hypnobirthing: Practical Ways to Make your Birth Better by Siobhan Miller, and The Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill (it didn’t make me feel v positive haha but it’s super informative and helpful and worth a read anyway). - The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant by Jean M Twenge - Your Pregnancy Nutrition Guide: What to eat while you’re pregnant by Henrietta Norton - How to Grow a Baby and Push it Out by Clemmie Hooper - Blooming Delicious – your pregnancy cookbook by Sophie Wright - The Positive Birth Book: A New Approach to Pregnancy, Birth and the Early Weeks by Milli Hill - Your Baby, Your Birth: Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth by Hollie de Cruz - Truly Happy Baby – It worked for me: A practical parenting guide from a mum you can trust by Holly Willoughby - The Psychology of Babies: How relationships support development from birth to two years by Lynne Murray - Give Birth Like A Feminist by Milli Hill - Happy Mum, Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher - Hypnobirthing: Practical ways to make your birth better by Siobhan Miller - Clue – (free!) this was my go to for period/fertility tracking in the period before we were properly trying, just to familiarize myself with my cycle, so I’d know the dates of my periods and rough fertility windows etc. but then I changed to a different one which if you’re TTC is more accurate because in Clue, you can’t log ovulation tests. In the app below, you can log what your ovulation tests say and it feeds into the algorithm and re-calculates your dates! - Glow – (the basic version is free, and is super extensive but I did upgrade to premium as they did 40% off for the new year!) I downloaded this before we were TTC officially and I used the info I had from Clue about my cycle to input all my previous periods. This one is a lot more involved. Clue lets you track emotions and sex as well as periods, for example, but with Glow you can go the whole TTC 9 yards (TMI possibly, but you can include if you were on the bottom or top, or had sex multiple times, log your cervical mucus consistency (this is something I never thought I’d care about when I was younger haha, and you can also log, believe it or not, whether or not your orgasmed!) It also lets you record your basal body temperature so you can really hone in on the ovulation day predictions. You can also track your stress levels, join groups (and weirdly even talk to women on the same cycle as you, but I must admit I didn’t do that!) Anyway, this was so helpful, and I might do a proper review of the app on here if you guys might find more details useful?! It also has meditations if you subscribe to premium, both for general life and de-stressing, and also fertility-specific meditations. But key for me was that while it and Clue looked equally accurate (they initially predicted the same fertile window), Glow updates according to your ovulation tests (it turned out I was ovulating a day earlier than it thought!) - Glow nurture – once pregnant, I used the Glow sister app to track Cub’s development 🙂 ❤ - RelaxMelodies – for keeping calm and helping me sleep, and de-stressing (you need to reduce stress as much as possible while TTC and pregnant!) - Freya – this is The Positive Birth Company App and helps with breathing exercises to try to reduce pain and stop you freaking out during labour. I’m all about trying to learn these kinds of techniques in advance! You can also use it to time contractions when the time comes…! - Peanut – I’ve heard the founder interviewed loads. She is an amazing entrepreneur and mum, and this is like tinder for mums, to help you meet friends who will also have little ones and be around at the same times as you (and help you find like-minded mums so you don’t end up bored out of your brain on nappy chat if that’s not your thing!) I joined a bit early and spoke to some TTC mamas too! I’ve done the Hypnobirthing Digital Pack by The Positive Birth Company which was comforting, and I’m now doing their Post Natal course which teaches you what to expect in the period immediately after birth, and recovery from their, feeding, all that jazz! These two episodes from Rhiannon Lambert’s Food for Thought: Also, every single episode on Made by Mammas. I’m addicted to this podcast – it will answer ALL your questions on ALL aspects of pregnancy and having a baby! These are just a few but there are loads out there, I guess it just depends what you like. Made by Mammas (by Zoe and Georgia, who do the podcast of the same name!) I also discovered Kayla Buell on my TTC googlings and she has a blog over at Lost Gen Y Girl that I also found helpful. Plus the gorgeous and glamorous Rose – of The Londoner fame, who was an old fave lifestyle, fashion and general recipe blogger of mine – now has a baby and so does some posts on mum and baby life which are helpful. (Ps an old non-mum fave: check out her recipe for Slutty Brownies!) I didn’t discover her until I was pregnant, but Lucie and the Bump is great too, and I like following her because she’s just a couple of weeks ahead of me in her second pregnancy. I am very particular about the youtubers I watch, and I struggle with mum youtubers sometimes. These are the ones I like, most others I struggle with. Always keen for recommendations though! - Fleur De Force & Fleur De Vlog (I love that Fleur didn’t start as a mum vlogger, she’s first and foremost herself doing mostly beauty, fashion and lifestyle but NATURALLY her life changed once she found out she was having a baby, and I love her pregnancy vlogs etc. I find her really relatable and maybe one of the youtube mums I feel like I’d be similar to, so I really like and relate to the style of her videos. Also her little girl River Wren is ADORABLE and I REALLY RESPECT Fleur’s decision not to feature River too much and put her all over the internet and keep it about River’s choice as she gets older!) - Kerry Conway (we went to school together so maybe I’m biased haha but I love following her adventures with her 3 girls and her husband back where I grew up. Loads of helpful info and tips, and she juggles motherhood with entrepreneurial work which is great!) - Kayla Buell (most US based mommy vlogs haven’t been my cup of tea but I love Kayla’s videos! At the time of writing she has a little girl called Riley and is about to pop with her baby boy! I love that she was smart, educated, with a career but fully owned her choice to say “screw the haters, I want to be a stay at home mum”) - Lucieandthebump – I discovered Lucie when I was almost 10 weeks pregnant and she’s at 14 weeks so a little bit ahead so it’s fun to follow her journey as we’re so close with where we’re at! She does other content too that I don’t really follow so much. - Jessica Hover – she has a couple of baby 101 and newborn tips videos that seem like they’ll be super useful **with these American ones, if you’re an atheist like me, the religion can get a bit much, so usually I skip any of those parts! The technical stuff – tests, OPKs etc. So I was determined not to use ovulation kits and not to obsess and just enjoy our period of trying when we first talked about it. That went out of the window for various reasons, including Boy having to travel for work and us wanting to maximise our chances… obviously at this point we had no idea it would happen first cycle. So… we ordered the OPKs and then I ordered a BBT thermometer to be extra careful. Here are my technical bits & pieces that I’d recommend. - Clearblue ovulation test advanced digital – these are pricier than the super cheap ones on Amazon, but I wanted a clear, definitive answer on fertility, not to stress about whether there was a line or not! You have a super clear smiley face if you’re ovulating, and a flashing smiley if you’re high fertility. Simple. Stress-free! - Clearblue digital pregnancy tests, especially the Clearblue Pregnancy Early Detection Triple Check kit – these just feel more reliable to me to confirm what you’ve seen on a cheapie, but obviously they’re too expensive to keep shelling out for if you’re testing a lot, so also invest in the below! - ‘One Step’ test strips (Amazon cheapie pregnancy tests!) – life savers if you’re getting obsessive in the two week wait. You get x50 in this pack and don’t have to pay a fortune. Obvs I now have millions left over that I didn’t end up using haha… oops! - Pre-seed lube – apparently regular lube can kill swimmers (fact of the day haha!), and even if you don’t normally need or want lube, if you’re having a lot more sex than normal to try, trust me – buy some of this! Makes everything super easy, and it’s sperm friendly. Woo! Femometer Digital Basal Body Thermometer – accurate to 1/100th of a degree, it also has its own app to help you chart and tell when you’re going to ovulate, but I also tracked my results into my Glow app. I am obsessed, as you can tell, with learning what the hell I’m in for as I want to be as well prepared, happy and healthy as I can be so that in turn our little cub is super happy and healthy too… so any books, pods, apps, you name it, hit me up! Also please, PLEASE share your fave pregnancy workouts and any youtubers you think I might like who are similar to the above. How crazy is this?!! I can’t even explain how excited we both are ❤
I’ve been working from home since 2008 and I’ve established many work from home rules to live by (and to get sh!t done by). I have some thoughts on what works (for me) and what doesn’t. Whether or not you agree with these 10 work from home rules I live (and work) by, it’s important to figure out what works best for you as soon as you start your work from home adventure. Here are 10 rules I swear by: Get up early. The creative side of me always enjoyed staying up late and getting things done in the wee hours of the morning. When I first started working for myself, I had many nights working until the sun came up! Then I’d sleep all day. It was great until I became off schedule with the rest of the world–both professionally (for meetings, calls, social media posts, replying to emails etc) and socially (dating, seeing friends, going to the gym/movies, making appointments etc). Then for a long while, I got on a consistent schedule of getting up about 8:30-9 am. It was better for me professionally and socially–and it still allowed me to work somewhat late when I felt most creative. Still, the days seemed to go by in a blink. I’d look up from work and feel it should only be noon, and it’d be 4 pm. You know that feeling?!? The creative zone can really suck you into a black hole of time. It wasn’t until my cross country move last summer that I’ve truly become a morning person. It might sound crazy, but leaving the time zone I spent my entire life in for a time zone that is 3 hours earlier has definitely helped my productivity. My favorite work from home rule: I’m now up at 5 am. I get dressed while my coffee brews, and take a morning walk with the furbaby. Then I get to work right away–everyday (no matter what). Many people argue you should find the hours your body feels the best working–I used to be on that side of the argument. But I’ve proved myself wrong. Getting up extra early (ouch–when it’s still dark!) has been the simplest and most effective way for me to boost productivity. I’ve seen major growth in making this simple tactic a work from home rule for one simple reason: the day just seems to have so many more hours in it when I get up at 5 am. Your mother has probably told you this at some point in your life (as has mine). Guess what? She is right. Set your alarm. (Or move to the west coast.) Use a planner. Structure your time to maximize efficiency. Have a plan for the week, the day, the hour. Monitor how you are spending your time. Set your timer on your phone to move onto the next task! Stop winging it. I fell in love with the planning this past year and it’s really changed how I work. I schedule newsletters a month in advance now. A month!! I suggest using my favorite daily planner here. Get dressed/do your routine/put on makeup. You gotta get out of your pajamas/underwear/bathrob/Fabletics–immediately. Sorry to break it to you, you also have to wash your face and brush your teeth. You might even want to brush your hair, and put on some makeup. Do whatever primping routine you did when you went into an office/establishment for work. Psychologically, when I put myself together in the morning, I feel like myself. I don’t feel my sharpest and therefore don’t do my best work when I have no bra on and severe bed-head. You don’t have to sit at your desk in a suit (unless you want to) but try getting dressed in “real” clothes and see how you feel compared to loafing around your apartment like a slug. I’m willing to bet you are more productive when you clean up. I always, always, always put on sparkly stud earrings. (It’s like it’s own work from home rule.) It’s like a subconscious mind signal–once the earrings are in, I switch from sleepy-relaxed-home-mode to get-shit-done-work-mode. Schedule personal appointments as if you had an office job. So you’re working from home! Sweet! You can go to yoga at 10 am on Tuesdays and follow it up with a sauna and a shower. Oh and Wednesdays you have a standing appointment with your acupuncturist at 11 am, and afterward, you like to get your nails done. Right? Wrong. Enter the least fun work from home rule. Working from home does not mean not working (as many of my friends do not understand). When scheduling my personal appointments, I act as if I work in an office and will have to explain why I’m missing for hours to a boss. I know it takes the fun out of working from home, but in my experience, when I break up my day with personal appointments, I break up my productivity flow. I need longer chunks of undisturbed time to get my daily-to-dos accomplished. When I step out in the middle of the day, it always tends to be a less productive day overall. There are of course times that I have to do so, but in general, I try to schedule all appointments in the late afternoon (after 4 pm) or evening so that I can maximize my work day. If 9 out of the 10 personal appointments you make don’t disrupt your work, you will be incredibly productive. Make social time a priority. Because I don’t have co-workers while working at home and am an outgoing, social person, I have to be sure I get my social fix each week, otherwise, I get a little stir-crazy. My rules are these: 1) I drive somewhere at least once a day. 2) I make social plans at least three times a week (not including weekends). They don’t have to be expensive dinners out. Most often they are meeting a friend for a beach walk, a coffee chat or attending a local event. The point is, you have to get out and about–close the door on that home office. You must treat social time with the same respect you treat work time–it’s important to see friends and family, meet new people, feel connected to your community, and have work-life balance. This very well may be the most important rule, if you don’t follow it, working from home may actually make you feel isolated and out of touch. My sis once asked me, “How do you not read magazines all day while working from home?” I told her that if I read magazines, then I don’t get my work done, and then…I don’t get paid. So magazines, TV, video games, doing laundry, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning my closet–whatever the distraction–I have an absolute “zero tolerance” rule in effect. Ppssst…another work from home rule I have is a strict no television during the day rule. I won’t turn the TV on until it’s dark outside. If you get distracted by temptations around your home, try implementing strict hourly parameters! Have a designated workspace. (NOT THE COUCH.) Have a specific place where you do your work, ideally a table or desk with a comfortable chair. Keep it neat and tidy so that each day you sit back down it’s a pleasant experience. If it’s a disorganized mess of papers and piles it will likely effect your productivity. At the end of each day take two minutes to put things away so that you start the next day on an organized note. This work from home rule will allow you to have boundaries with living and working in the same space. Get a dog. The very best work from home rule! Since co-workers are slim to none while working from home, having a dog around has surprisingly increased my productivity. How? First, my dog forces me to take frequent breaks/walks outside that help refresh my mental state. If I didn’t have that little paw poking me every 3-4 hours to go outside, my day might be one big black hole of work. And maybe I’d get a lot done, but I’m confident my work is higher quality because I return to my desk with a fresh perspective. Plus, getting outside means getting more sunshine, which in turn means a boost of vitamin D, which helps prevent a lot of health issues, including depression. Second, my dog brings me pure joy. The laughs, smiles, and love she provides me with all day every day make work more fun. And we all need to have a little fun while working–or what’s the point? There’s nothing like the freedom of working at home. Make the most of it. When you are productive and cross something off your to do list, reward yourself. Take a break! (Make a delicious lunch! Go for a run!) My daily reward (for example, if I get X, Y and Z done by a certain time) is usually a 20 minute pool/hot tub break. It’s pretty incredible what looking forward to little rewards will do for your productivity! Hope my work from home rules help boost your productivity and make working from home a great experience. Try writing your own rules. And actually write them down–you’re more apt to stick to them that way. Let me know in the comments what work from home rules help you!
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Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us in order to receive service from us. SAVE MY LOCAL Ltd This document was last updated on 31 March 2020. SAVE MY LOCAL holds Personal Data about our users, volunteers, clients, suppliers and other individuals for a variety of business purposes. We understand that this data is a valuable asset that requires protection, and we are fully committed to providing that protection from both accidental and deliberate data protection breaches. The compromise of this data may result in harm to individuals, reputational damage, detrimental effect on service provision, legislative non-compliance, and/or financial costs. Following the coming into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 18.05.2018, we are required to have in place a framework designed to ensure the security of all personal data during its lifecycle, including clear lines of responsibility. This includes notification to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and sometimes to affected data subjects. The purpose of this policy is to outline SAVE MY LOCAL’s internal breach reporting procedure and our internal and external response plan. It should be read in conjunction with our data protection policy. This policy must be read and understood by all staff. For the purpose of this policy, data security breaches include both confirmed and suspected incidents. A data breach is an event or action which may compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of systems or data, either accidentally or deliberately, and cause damage to SAVE MY LOCAL’s information assets and/or reputation. This includes accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. Data breaches may be caused by human error: Loss of computing devices (portable or otherwise), data storage devices (e.g. USB sticks), or paper records containing personal data; Disclosing data to a wrong recipient; Handling data in an unauthorised way (e.g. downloading a local copy of personal data); Unauthorised access or disclosure of personal data by volunteers (e.g. sharing an email login); Improper disposal of personal data (e.g. hard disk, storage media, or paper documents containing personal data sold or discarded before data is properly deleted). Data breaches may be caused by malicious third parties: Hacking incidents through which access is gained to SAVE MY LOCAL databases containing personal data; Theft of computing devices (portable or otherwise), data storage devices, or paper records containing personal data; Blagging scams that deceive SAVE MY LOCAL volunteers into releasing personal data of individuals; Data breaches may be caused by computer system errors: Errors or bugs in SAVE MY LOCAL’s website or email; Failure of cloud services, cloud computing, or cloud storage (e.g. Google Drive/Dropbox), or security/authentication systems Data breaches may be caused by unforeseeable events outside of SAVE MY LOCAL’s control: Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, fires; War or other armed conflict. SAVE MY LOCAL will maintain a register of all suspected or confirmed breaches, regardless of whether they are reported to the ICO. The register will contain the following information: The facts relating to the breach, including the cause of the breach, what happened and what personal data were affected; The effects of the breach; The response taken by SAVE MY LOCAL. All volunteers must report actual or potential data protection compliance failures to Director and Data Protection Officer (Mike Kelly), Volunteers ought to retain any evidence in relation to the breach and provide an Incident Report Form setting out any relevant information relating to the actual or suspected personal data breach, including: Name, team and contact details; Date of the confirmed or suspected breach; Date of discovery of the confirmed or suspected breach; Date of Incident Report Form; Factual summary relating to the confirmed or suspected breach, including the types and amount of personal data involved; Any information or evidence as to the cause of the confirmed or suspected breach; Any steps taken to remedy the breach, and whether or not the breach is resolved or ongoing; Any information or evidence as to who was affected by the breach. All volunteers reporting data breaches should keep the incident internal. SAVE MY LOCAL will investigate and assess the confirmed or suspected personal data breach in accordance with the response plan set out below and determine who should be notified and how. The DPO will assemble a team to investigate, manage and respond to the personal data breach. The response team will: Make an urgent preliminary assessment of the breach – is the breach resolved or ongoing; what data has been lost and how; Take immediate steps to contain the breach and recover any lost data: Shut down the compromised system that led to the data breach; Take steps to recover lost data and limit any damage caused (e.g. remotely formatting a lost phone); Prevent further unauthorised access to the system; Reset passwords if accounts and/or passwords have been compromised; Isolate the causes of the data breach in the system, and where applicable, change the access rights to the compromised system and remove external connections to the system. Undertake a full and detailed assessment of the breach; How many people were affected? Whose personal data had been breached? What types of personal data were involved? What are the consequences of the breach for the data subjects? Are any additional measures in place or required to minimise the impact of a data breach (e.g. data encryption)? Record the breach in SAVE MY LOCAL’s data breach register; Put in place any further measures to address it and mitigate its possible adverse effects, and to prevent future breaches. Article 33(1) GDPR requires notification of the breach to the ICO within 72 hours of having become aware of it, unless the personal data breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. SAVE MY LOCAL fully endeavours to meet the 72-hour deadline, and where impossible, will provide adequate reasons for delay. A decision to report will be made on a case-by-case basis, involving the following non-exhaustive list of considerations: Whether the breach is likely to result in a high risk of adversely affecting individuals’ rights and freedoms under Article 33 GDPR, such as: Loss of control over their data; Limitation of their rights; Loss of confidentiality; Any other significant economic or social disadvantage. Whether notification would assist the data subjects affected (e.g. could they act on the information to mitigate risks?); Whether notification would help prevent the unauthorised or unlawful use of personal data; Whether there are any legal/contractual notification requirements. Whether there are any legal/contractual notification requirements. The nature of the personal data breach including where possible, the categories and approximate number of data subjects concerned and the categories and approximate number of personal data records concerned; The name and contact details of SAVE MY LOCAL’s Director and DPO in case more information needs to be obtained; The likely consequences of the personal data breach; The measures taken or proposed to be taken by SAVE MY LOCAL to address the personal data breach, including, where appropriate, measures to mitigate its possible adverse effects. When the personal data breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, SAVE MY LOCAL shall communicate the personal data breach to the data subject(s) without undue delay in clear and plain language. The communication will include: A description of the nature of the breach; The name and contact details of SAVE MY LOCAL’s DPO; A description of the likely consequences of the breach; A description of the measures taken, or to be taken, by SAVE MY LOCAL to address the breach and mitigate its possible adverse effects. SAVE MY LOCAL will also provide practical advice on damage control e.g. cancelling credit cards or resetting passwords. Communication will be made by email, except where this is unknown or would involve disproportionate effort on SAVE MY LOCAL’s part, in which case a visible notice will be put up on SAVE MY LOCAL’s website (www.savemylocal.org). SAVE MY LOCAL is not required to notify affected data subjects where: SAVE MY LOCAL has implemented appropriate technical and organisational protection measures, and those measures were applied to the personal data affected by the personal data breach, in particular those that render the personal data unintelligible to any person who is not authorised to access it, such as encryption; SAVE MY LOCAL has taken subsequent measures which ensure that the high risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects is no longer likely to materialise. This policy will be updated as necessary to reflect best practice and to ensure compliance with any changes or amendments to relevant legislation. This policy was last reviewed on 31 March 2020
Front Page Headlines The system collapses at state hospital: “Appointments halt, no order left” The coronavirus pandemic has further disrupted the broken order at the state hospital. Patients applying for tests or treatment at the State Hospital in Nicosia are complaining of the lack of order at the out-patient clinics. Patients have been complaining of delayed surgeries, shortage of medicines, postponed appointments or long waiting hours. Furthermore, the ward allocated for COVID-19 patients is almost full, with only five or six vacant beds. - Two positive cases at YDP (Rebirth Party), (YDP Leader) Erhan Arıklı in isolation for ten days. - One positive case in Türk Sigorta (Insurance) – The General Manager of Türk Sigorta told Yenidüzen that some employees were being placed in quarantine. - Vadili (Vatili) Mayor Adahan: “394 tests carried out in Vadili (Vatili) are negative.” Our mental health is threatened The Turkish Cypriot community, which is suffering from the consequences of the pandemic and the economic crisis, is going through difficult days. Many, concerned with the coronavirus, are struggling with financial problems. Experts warn that people could suffer from severe psychological problems as a result of these traumas. - “We have to solve the hydrocarbons issue first” – National Unity Party (UBP) leader and party’s candidate Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said he will suggest solving the hydrocarbons issue before the resumption of any new process on the Cyprus problem to the UN Secretary-General, relevant countries and to international organisations. Tatar spoke to Associated Press (AP). - “We will not make any concessions on Turkey’s and TRNC’s security priorities” – Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced the commencement of the “Mediterranean Storm” military exercise carried out jointly by Turkey and the north. Government licks what it spits The government which often wavers between decisions regarding its efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic once again had to amend its quarantine decision granting exemption to gamblers within 24 hours. The government could not withstand the public’s outrage for giving exemption to gamblers who would come to the north for 72 hours or less. The decision was amended within 24 hours and the Turkish Cypriot health ministry announced the revised decision. “The exemption is only valid for those travelling to or from Turkey on official business,” the ministry said. - Covid-19 panic in politics – Head of the Women’s Branch and the head of the Nicosia district from the Rebirth Party (YDP) tested positive for coronavirus. Party leader Erhan Arıklı self-isolated himself. Independent candidate Serdar Denktaş reiterated his proposal to postpone the elections again. - No authority but huge effect – Independent candidate Serdar Denktaş said the president does not have any authority in the domestic matters but has a huge impact. - “They hit a brick wall” – Republican Turkish Party (CTP) candidate Tufan Erhürman criticized the government regarding its decisions on the coronavirus pandemic. - “We do not have the luxury to make mistakes” – Incumbent president, Mustafa Akıncı criticized the government regarding its efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. All has gone sour The health ministry changed the rules of entry into the country twice in the last 24 hours. It has been decided to apply mandatory quarantine for those arriving from the UK and Turkey. According to the new changes, even those who are visiting the island for three days will have to be placed in quarantine. - Arıklı self isolates at home – The head of the YDP’s women’s branch and the Lefkoşa District Office have tested positive for COVID-19. Don’t send your children to school KTÖS (TC Teachers’ Union) General Secretary Şener Elcil urged parents not to send their children to school until the number of coronavirus cases is under control. “It is safer to keep your children at home in this chaotic environment,” Elcil said. - Apparently not for gamblers – The Turkish Cypriot Health Ministry in a statement revised its ruling on quarantine exemption and said the exemption will only be for those travelling to or from Turkey on official business. - Covid shock at the YDP – Two senior members of the Rebirth Party (YDP) tested positive for coronavirus. Party leader Erhan Arıklı self-isolated himself. “All campaign activities have been suspended for ten days,” Arıklı said. - The latest situation: 14 new cases including 11 local infections, identified in the north. Two cases in the south despite many more tests. Authorities in north revise Covid-19 measures, local transmission cases continueYenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa Internal Security, Governance and Power Sharing The health ministry on Sunday announced it has revised its decision to grant an exemption to all those arriving from category B list of countries for a duration shorter than 72 hours from entering mandatory quarantine. Health Minister Ali Pilli said that the exemption will only apply to those on special work permits and no other visitors. The public was outraged with the decision taken on Saturday exempting anyone who will be staying shorter than 72 hours from entering quarantine. The people had questioned the scientific reasoning behind the move, accusing the government of putting the interests of the casinos before the public’s health. They argued that the government had put the general public’s health at risk for a handful of rich gamblers who fly into the north for a weekend getaway. Meanwhile, the Rebirth Party (YDP) on Sunday announced that had suspended all election campaign visits for the next ten days after two of its members tested positive for Covid-19. YDP leader and presidential candidate Erhan Arıklı confirmed the reports to Yenidüzen, stating that the head of the party’s women’s branch and Nicosia District Office had both tested positive. He said a large number of party members including himself were self-isolating. Asked how many people had come into contact with the two individuals, Arıklı avoided a straight response, stating that one of the persons had recently returned from Turkey. In a related development, the Mayor of Vadili (Vatili) announced on Sunday that all 394 tests conducted in the village were negative. A large number of local transmission cases had been detected in the village and surrounding villages on Friday and Saturday raising concern among authorities. All public events and mass gatherings have been banned in the village for the next 14 days. Tatar: First agreement on the hydrocarbons before the resumption of talksYenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa Governance and Power Sharing, Negotiations Process, Energy, Regional/International Relations “Once elected, I will explain my position to the UN Secretary-General, to all the relevant countries and the international organisations on the hydrocarbons and will tell them there needs to be an agreement on the issue before the resumption of any talks or process on the Cyprus problem,” Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister and leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) Ersin Tatar said on Sunday. In an interview with the Associated Press (AP), Tatar argued the hydrocarbons issue is a test to see whether or not the two sides can reach an agreement. “If we cannot reach an agreement on the hydrocarbons issue, how will it be possible to reach an agreement on the issues which we failed to resolve since 1968?” Tatar asked. He pointed out the UBP is in favour of reaching an agreement, based on sovereign equality between the two states and that the said agreement will safeguard the security of the Turkish Cypriots; and will warrant socio-economic standing of the Turkish Cypriots under the property and the territory chapters. “I sincerely believe if we can reach an agreement on the issue, it will act as a catalyst to ensuring regional peace, Greek-Turkish friendship, as well as to resolving the Cyprus problem,” Tatar said. Responding to a question on what the basis of the talks should be, Tatar recalled that the efforts to establish a federal solution have been underway for 43 years since 1977. “It has not been possible to achieve any conclusion in 43 years thus it is necessary to table alternative models to overcome the problem,” he stressed. He argued that it is not realistic to claim ‘the only way is the federal solution’ at this day and age. “Velvet divorce is an option if the two sides agree they cannot reach a solution under the federal roof. The unification then could be achieved under the roof of the European Union (EU) as two independent states. We can ensure better days for the island through the agreements we will sign as two separate states,” Tatar said. Asked to elaborate on the principles of political equality and effective participation in decision-making processes, Tatar reiterated the partnership model the UBP is proposing, is based on sovereign equality. “The Turkish Cypriots will be as sovereign as the Greek Cypriots,” Tatar stressed. “The rotational presidency is a red-line for the UBP. In this respect, the Turkish Cypriots must be included in all aspects of the decision making processes otherwise the decisions adopted by one side would upset the other and the partnership will not last,” Tatar argued. Tatar, responding to a question on the reopening of Maraş (Varosha), recalled that the fenced-off town had been kept behind barbed-wires for decades with the hopes of a comprehensive settlement and that the Greek Cypriot side had rejected every solution plan on Maraş (Varosha) to date. “The Greek Cypriot administration owes a big apology to the property owners in Maraş (Varosha), not only have they rejected all the solution plans but also rejected every confidence-building measure (CBMs) on the fenced-off town,” Tatar said. He noted that the Turkish Cypriot side wants to produce solutions on certain issues since the Greek Cypriot side does not come forth for a solution and Maraş (Varosha) is one of them. Tatar, in response to a question on his reasons for demanding the continuation of Turkey’s guarantees, recalled the past events from 1963 onwards. “It would not have been possible to talk about a Turkish Cypriot community on the island today if Turkey did not have the unilateral right to intervene through the treaty of guarantees,” Tatar stressed, adding that a significant majority of the Turkish Cypriot people today want the continuation of Turkey’s effective guarantees on the island. In response to a question on the current escalation of tension in the Eastern Mediterranean, Tatar said the Turkish Cypriot side wants the natural resources to unite the island and not to lead into a conflict. “While the Turkish and Cypriot side put forth proposals for collaboration, Greece and the Greek Cypriot side together with the EU disregard both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots,” Tatar said. He added that the Greek Cypriot side is trying to exert its sovereignty over the Turkish Cypriot side. “If we can sit at the negotiations table as two communities for the solution of the Cyprus problem, we should also be able to discuss the hydrocarbons issue as two communities but it has not been possible,” Tatar underlined. He also expressed disbelief in Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades’ proposal of setting up an escrow account. “The Greek Cypriot administration is not sincere in its proposal because they claim they will give the Turkish Cypriots their share after the solution but at the same time rejects the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals on collaboration, claiming it is a matter of sovereignty,” Tatar said. “Turkish Cypriots can’t have their rights kept in a freezer with the hope that one day the Greek Cypriots will come forth for a solution. We must be able to claim our rights without a comprehensive settlement. We can sit down and discuss the hydrocarbons issue. Justice and the law necessitate that,” Tatar concluded. >> Agreement on the hydrocarbons will come before the resumption of Cyprus talks. >> I will make my position known to the UNSG, other countries & int’l organisations. >> The hydrocarbons issue is a test to see whether or not the two sides can reach an agreement. >> The UBP is in favour of reaching an agreement, based on sovereign equality between the two states. >> The said agreement will safeguard the security of the TC; & will warrant socio-economic standing of the TCs under the property & the territory chapters. >> An agreement on the issue will act as a catalyst to ensuring regional peace, Greek-Turkish friendship, as well as to resolving the Cyprob. >> Necessary to table alternative models to overcome the problem because it has not been possible to achieve a solution in 43 years. >> Not realistic to claim ‘the only way is the federal solution’ at this day & age. >> Velvet divorce is an option if the two sides agree they cannot reach a solution under the federal roof. >> The unification then could be achieved under the roof of the EU as two independent states. >> The partnership model the UBP is proposing is based on sovereign equality. >> The TCs will be as sovereign as the GCs. >> The rotational presidency is a red-line for the UBP. >> The TCs must be included in all aspects of the decision-making processes otherwise the partnership will not last. >> The GC administration owes a big apology to the property owners in Maraş (Varosha). >> GCs rejected all the solution plans & every CBM on the fenced-off town to date. >> Would not have been possible to talk about a TC community on the island today if Turkey did not have the unilateral right to intervene through the treaty of guarantees. >> A significant majority of the TCs today want the continuation of Turkey’s effective guarantees on the island. >> The TC side wants the natural resources to unite the island & not to lead into a conflict. >> GC side should discuss hydrocarbons with the TCs in a similar way the two communities participate in the negotiations process. >> TC can’t have their rights kept in a freezer with the hope that one day the GCs will come forth for a solution. >> TCs must be able to claim their rights without a comprehensive settlement. >> Two sides should sit down & discuss the hydrocarbons issue.
The team at Starlight are awesome! You can tell that they really care about the work that they do and really want to have a positive impact on a child's hospital experience. Being able to volunteer at a local hospital event I had the opportunity to witness the values of the organization and how appreciative the hospitals and patients are of the programs that they offer. Everyone at Starlight is 100% dedicated to their mission. They are passionate and really care about helping hospitalized children and making that difficult experience somewhat easier for them. Thank you for all the work that you do! I have volunteered with Starlight several times and, most recently, at a Health Fair in Los Angeles. It was truly amazing to watch their programs bring smiles to these kids' faces. They really do fulfill their mission, to deliver happiness to seriously ill kids, in every thing they do. Thank you Starlight for helping so many communities! I love the Starlight virtual reality program. I think it's really great that they're using state-of-the-art technology to bring happiness to kids in the hospital. Not only is it fun but it can greatly reduce a child's pain. Great job, Starlight! I am a monthly donor to Starlight and I love knowing that more than 85% of their funding goes directly to their programs. They truly are doing everything they can to deliver happiness to hospitalized kids. This non-profit is extraordinary with what they do for the lives of children in the hospital and their families too! They really think about the impact of the experience for the patient as well as their siblings and parents by providing an atmosphere of fun and normalcy as much as they can. I love that they also take the time to really follow-up with their families and patients. I donate to Starlight because I believe in their mission and the genuine people behind their company. Starlight is such an amazing organization. Our family is personally thankful for the gaming systems during our sons hospital stay(s). Each and every time the system was rolled into the room it immediately brought a smile to our sons face. During a difficult health journey these gaming systems had the entire family laughing and smiling. Both our boys loved playing games together day and night, it was a great way for the boys to connect during a not so great time. My daughter was a Starlight kid 30 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of kids have been hospitalized since then and Starlight continues to provide peace of mind for parents by making the stays more pleasant... recently new softer gowns with updated designs. Also, state of the art technology through different decades, currently VR technology and gaming for kids who would otherwise be stuck in rooms, surprise celebrity visitors, sharing opportunities for medical staff training, and most importantly long term, forward thinking advisors, directors and employees dedicated to making Starlight sustainable for future patients. That’s why I donate. My son who was 8 years old at the time had a big surgery on his legs at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. His threshold for pain is low. His therapist wanted to get him out of bed and moving around. He was in a lot of pain and just wanted to stay in bed. They brought the Nintendo Wii for him to play. This gaming system was what he needed to take his mind off of the pain. He was able to get out of bed and would sit in a chair and play the Nintendo Wii. I feel this was the best thing for him to help with his recovery. Starlight Children’s Foundation did an excellent job providing my little one with this fun and comfortable gown. It was a nice way to brighten up his hospital experience. Starlight is a wonderful organization working to make children’s lives better. Our family’s life has been touched by their generosity to help make a deeply challenging medical Issue much easier to cope with. They have spread starlight upon us all. Thank you and God bless. Starlight Children’s Foundation has brought lots of joy to my 5yr old son Andrew who is currently fighting a rare form of Leukemia. Starlight provided Andrew with the most comfortable, and not to mention the cutes hospital gowns. The gowns make Andrew feel like he his wearing pajamas and not the normal hospital gowns. This organization helped with getting my niece and her family to a Cubs game this past April, and they were able to get some of the Cubs team to meet the family, and they had the opportunity to throw out the first pitch. Class act organization! so grateful for the product in that it really helped our family when our son was in the hospital to make it feel like it wasnt in the hospital and he was able to be a real kid. This nonprofit is totally amazing! We are a recipient of the Beautiful gowns and have worn them time and time again throughout many procedures! It’s wonderful to look back at photos and know that he was able to have a moment of just being a kid and show people the muscles on his shirt instead of feeling very sterile and having PTSD about having the standard one put on. So grateful and look forward to the future to see what Moore this nonprofit can do to help others! Starlight is such a wonderful group! We got to help Jack, their 2018 Design a Gown winner celebrate his fantastic design and special win at a Cubs game this Spring! Starlight has helped put smiles on the faces of so many sick children-wonderful job and mission!! This organization, headed up by wonderful people, create a warm, fun atmosphere in an otherwise sad and cold environment by adding happiness and fun to hospital stays for sick children. Seeing first-hand how their soft, functional hospital gowns made my now-one-year old daughter more comfortable during one of her many hospital stays was incredible. They are like make-a-wish for hospitalized children. I just wish more people knew about them and their amazing mission and purpose. I first learned of Starlight when they worked with Michaels for the create a gown contest. A friend of ours, their son, actually ended up winning!!! We were lucky enough to join at the Cubs game when they announced the winner. We met some people from starlight, and it is obvious how passionate they are about what they do. I’ve also since seen, many children who are sick in gowns given to them from starlight. They are an incredible organization. 5 stars for starlight!!! I have watched Starlight come alongside my friends, the Backe family. The support and encouragement the family received during the design a gown contest was fabulous. We had so much fun cheering them on and joining them at the Cubs game, while also supporting a wonderful cause. This foundation brings joy to children who might otherwise not find it in their current situation. Starlight has helped my daughter and her friends fighting an ultra rare disease called Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, get comfortable and funny gowns to wear during their frequent hospital stays. They have brought joy to my sick child and gave brought smiles to a difficult time. Starlight has been a wonderful resource for my family! They are a kind, compassionate group of people who are trying to do good things in this world. Keep up the great work Starlight! Starlight Children's Foundation has been an amazing resource for my niece who has spent the last 15 months caring for a critically ill infant. Her family was blessed to be introduced to this non-profit and to use the resources it provided to assist with the navigation required to care for her daughter as well as her family. We loved watching the design a gown contest, voting for our favorites and learning more about the amazing stories that went along with the entries. Bravo Starlight! My grandson designed a hospital gown in honor of his baby sisters congenital heart defect, and was selected as the winner of the contest from hundreds of entries. Starlight donated 30,000 gowns to hospitals throughout the country and my granddaughter was able to wear one during her hospital stay this past summer for her 3rd open heart surgery. The gowns help all children feel more comfortable during a difficult time. Starlight does many other things to comfort children during their hospital stay. What an amazing organization! While we focus each and every day on finding the joy and being grateful for all we have as we navigate this new part of our life- taking care of a critically ill child, the Starlight gown contest added a lot of fun, novelty, and joy to our lives. We met their amazing team, had incredible experiences, and most importantly felt so much pure joy and fulfillment in our hearts making a difference for other hospitalized children, because we know how much it means when someone brightens your day. One February afternoon, I was waiting for Everly to wake up from one of her 28 minute naps and for Grandma to drop Jack off back home from school. I was flipping through the high risk clinic binder we were given a few days after she was born. In it contained a section entitled “support/resources for families” that I had never had time to really dig into. There were lists of websites. I typed Starlight Children’s Foundation in and up popped the gown contest. Because of Everly’s fragile state, we spent most of the winter months at home, finding ways to have fun around the house. Jack enjoys arts and crafts. This was the perfect activity for a cold, wintery Chicago weekend coming up. I was immediately drawn to the contest because it was win/win. Jack and I would have fun doing an art project together and some kid somewhere was going to get a gown donated from Michaels because of us designing and submitting a gown. We encouraged our family and friends, especially friends Jack’s age, and also people who followed my blog about Everly’s health to design and submit gowns because what an easy way to get a gown to a hospitalized kiddo somewhere, thanks to Michaels. We never imagined that Jack would be finalist, let alone the winner. But we couldn’t be prouder of all he’s done to raise not only awareness to people about bringing joy to hospitalized kids but also the prevalence of childhood illnesses, like CHD. The first time we noticed a real need for a change in hospital gowns was a few months before Everly was born. Jack had just turned 5 and was having a tympanoplasty which is a skin graft in your ear to fix a hole that hadn’t closed from ear tubes when he was younger. Jack’s two big complaints were about the taste of the sleepy medicine and about the hospital gowns. He just could not get over how he couldn’t wear underwear and how his rear end was sticking out. Afterwards when people asked about his surgery, the majority of the time was spent talking about his extreme dislike for the gowns and how could his parents possibly make him wear that. Fast forward to designing our Starlight gown… Jack and I just loved the fact that the gowns tied on the side instead of the back and wondered if some day Evie would get to wear a gown like that instead of the traditional tie in the back ones. Fast forward again and Everly did in fact get to wear a Starlight gown and it was just as wonderful as we dreamed it would be. The bright colors and soft fabric made us feel like she looked more “normal.” It covered up the all the thick chest drain tubes and the bright red incision down her chest and all the millions of IVS and monitors. And for her, I’m sure she enjoyed how soft and comfortable it was. For us, we enjoyed how good it made her look. And don’t we all feel a little better when we look good? I know for me, when I’m living in the hospital, a shower and clean clothes makes me feel like a whole new person. Back to that comfort piece…. I used to be a teacher and I always joked that my best lessons and best student learning took place on Fridays because we got to wear jeans and jeans were more comfortable than dress clothes. As she came out of the fog of the anesthesia later in the evening after surgery she was pretty grumpy. I asked our nurse if we could get her dressed because she doesn’t enjoy being naked. Plus hospital rooms are super cold. We put her in her gown and she immediately got a little better. And the benefit of the Starlight gown versus the traditional gown... the ties on the sides allowed her to lay comfortable on her back. Can you imagine laying flat in a traditional gown with knots down your spine? This past surgery (her third open heart surgery before the age of one!) was a rough one. Probably our roughest yet. For a few reasons… 1- she was older and more aware. 2- she was doing so much more prior to surgery, she wasn’t just a little baby who laid around all day anymore like in previous surgeries. 3- although we had complications in all 3 heart surgeries, this one was the worst. The day before we were gearing up to head home post open heart surgery, Everly was on a mat on the floor playing happily and babbling and interacting with our favorite nurses. We had gotten to go outside that day for the first time since before surgery and the whole team felt that really helped Ev’s spirits. At 4 pm, she was as happy as could be. By 6 pm, she had taken a turn for the worst. She was practically unresponsive and had very labored breathing. By this point since we were anticipating being discharged the next day, everything had been removed except one small peripheral IV. No more central lines. No more chest tubes. For days she was unresponsive, moaning, and just rolling back and forth. It took several days for the ultrasounds and echos and chest xrays and blood labs to show what was going on. Once it was determined what type of infection she had, it was the first time I didn’t feel completely confident that she would recover fully from this infection or that we would be bringing our baby back home. It was the first time all the specialists’ faces dropped and turned white- and these people have seen it all. Lots of discussion. Lots of meetings. New specialists brought in. and then back in when the thick chest tubes that were inserted between her ribs. In went an IV into her neck because all the other IV real estate had been used in the first surgery a few weeks prior. They tried to treat the infection with medications and the chest tube for drainage. Unfortunately, a week after she took a turn for the worst, the team determined surgery that would reopen her chest and wash out the infection was going to be the best and fastest way for her body to fight this infection and give her the best chance at recovery. Thankfully, our team is brilliant and that wash out surgery really did help, combined with a continuous flush and IV antibiotics. This infection sent us back home with a PICC line where I administered IV antibiotics daily and a nose feeding tube because she was too weak to eat on her own for weeks. But thankfully we were able to take our baby home. And that’s just CHD for you. Just when you think you are going down one road to home, the GPS reroutes and back into the operating room you go. Having Everly wear Jack’s gown in the hospital was really great for our family. I always like to bring things that feel like home… our own blankets, our own socks, our own bottles. This personalized gown was an extra added touch. I spent a lot of days and sleepless nights in the hospital rooms alone with Everly. I couldn’t help but remember highlights of the gown competition and Cubs game while listening to the beeping of the monitors. While Everly is awake, I try to talk to her a lot. Sometimes I run out of things to say after so many days. It was nice to be able to talk to her about the hearts on her gown and who made them and why. Jack thought it was super cool- phenomenal actually, he must’ve learned that word from You Tube Kids- to see his sister wearing the gown. He thought it was neat that everyone in the hospital knew him when he walked in. The doctors let him have some extra time and privileges in the ICU room with Everly than most siblings get because they knew how awesome and well behaved he was from all his tv appearances. Although we didn’t give him many opportunities to see all wires and tubes and monitors when visiting, his eyes would grow a little larger if he caught a glimpse of everything attached to her, so I think if we dug a little more, he would’ve told us the gown helped her condition to seem less scary. Quite frankly, she was scary enough for him to look at with the gown on. Her eyes were open but no one was home. She’d look right through you. All while moaning. Jack also really enjoys seeing pics of other kids in the gown he designed. He’s had some tough questions about Everly’s heart. In fact, he even asked Santa for his number one present for Santa to fix her heart. Seeing other kiddos in his gown allowed us to talk about other families going through similar situations that we are. This year hoping for less times we need to wear our Starlight gowns- less hospitalizations due to illness. And maybe, just maybe - fingers crossed- the next time she needs to wear one she’ll be in the next size. We are so grateful for the Starlight crew and the nationwide community that has given us so much support. We’ve been blown away by all the msgs for Everly and all the votes for Jack. "We are proud to support Starlight Children's Foundation," said Todd Mulvahill, President of Papa Murphy's Seattle Co-Op. "Making a difference in our local community is important to Papa Murphy's and we look forward to continuing our support of children and families in the greater Seattle area." “Starlight is so much more than just toys and games,” says Tanya Ybarra, M.S., C.C.L.S., a child life specialist at California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles. “Where you see a can of Play-Doh, I see a tool to help my pediatric patients understand how cancer cells form a tumor, and how we treat it to help them get better.” “Niagara cares deeply about children and their families and through our corporate giving we aim to support those who face insurmountable challenges,” said Kristen Venick, Director of Niagara Cares. “By partnering with Starlight Children's Foundation we are able to bring some fun and comfort to a child's hospital stay and distract them from the often daunting care they are receiving. We are proud to support this program in all of our Niagara communities.” Connecting with nature helps children heal. Whether they are learning to cope with a catastrophic injury or a life-changing diagnosis, medically-supervised camp experiences support and empower kids and teens as they gain independence and self-confidence and develop social/emotional, communication, and leadership skills. Specialty programs include those for burn survivors; children who require respiratory assistance; and children living with craniofacial abnormalities, cancer, kidney and liver disease, and other diagnoses. Help bring the joy of camp to kids in your community. You have the power to stimulate creativity and help kids in your community heal. Art, music, and pet therapy can transform a child’s healing journey and improve health outcomes. Specialized therapists play an important role in a patient’s overall treatment plan, reducing pain and anxiety; improving motor skills and speech and language; enhancing self-esteem and confidence; encouraging self-expression; preparing patients for procedures; and teaching coping strategies that can help children recover from trauma, both emotionally and physically. Because of the need for specialized treatments and equipment, caring for a pediatric patient can cost four times as much as caring for an adult with the same ailment. This creates a tremendous burden for the communities that financially and emotionally support these children and their families. The Kansas City Royals and New York Mets teamed up with Major League Baseball and Starlight Children’s Foundation during the 2015 World Series to support kids and families in local communities. The teams and the league donated two Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York. Former team members and MLB executives joined with Starlight and hospital staff to unveil the new units to the delight of pediatric patients at each facility. “Advocate Children’s Hospital is thankful for this generous donation from Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation. On behalf of the teens and children we care for throughout the Chicagoland area, we want to thank you,” said Mike Farrell, President, Advocate Children’s Hospital. “At Advocate Children’s Hospital, we focus on making our care environments safe, sustainable and engaging. This generous gift allows us to enhance our teen lounge and provide technology and design elements important to teens and their families.” “At The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, our priority is our patients and providing them the highest quality care,” said Jon Hayes, CEO of The Children’s Hospital. “This means focusing on the healing of the whole child, and we’re grateful to Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation for embracing this goal with us by helping enhance and beautify the dialysis unit.” “Starlight Children’s Foundation and Astellas USA Foundation share a commitment to improving quality of life for patients and their families,” said Jeff Winton, president of Astellas USA Foundation. “We’re proud to play a supporting role in enhancing the healing experience for kids right in our backyard at Advocate Children’s Hospital.” A little over a month ago, I would have given Starlight Children’s Foundation a 5-star review. Allow me to explain why this is no longer the case. For twenty years, Starlight had a program called Starbright World, which was a social networking site for sick kids. When I joined Starbright World earlier this year, I was very alone, having lost most of my friends due to my illness and disability. I couldn’t relate to any of my peers; I’d never even spoken to another person my age who used a wheelchair, much less someone who had my incredibly rare disease. I had no one to talk to about my intense and emotional experience with chronic illness. Everything changed when I joined Starbright World. I met wonderful, caring, supportive people who understood what I was going through and were happy to welcome me into their community. It was a place where I could share my experience, from devastating diagnoses to painful procedures to frustrating doctor’s appointments, without fear of judgment. It was the first time since I’d been sick that I didn’t feel alone. Whenever I needed support, I came onto the chat room, which was monitored by wonderful hosts and full of kids just like me. I made true friends, the likes of which I didn’t have in real life. Starbright World was the first place I would go whenever something wonderful or terrible happened. It was the only beautiful, innocent place I’d ever seen on the internet, and the only safe place I had in my life. I know I’m not the only one who felt this way. There were hundreds of kids like me who depended upon Starbright World for an outlet and a support system. That was before this August, when Starlight announced that they would be shutting down Starbright World. They fired all of the incredible, giving, loving hosts without warning and gave us only three days notice before the site went dark. Sick, vulnerable, isolated kids, some of whom had been with Starbright World since the beginning, had their support system ripped away in less than a week. The effect was devastating. I was up until 4am three nights in a row, bawling my eyes out. One of my friends had a relapse of her illness from the stress. As kids with chronic illnesses, we already have enough stress and uncertainty in our lives! We weren’t even given an explanation; we were only told that there was no longer a need for Starbright World. We users banded together and desperately tried to save the site, proving that there was a need for Starbright World, but nobody listened. I sent emails and called Starlight Children’s Foundation, but I never got a response from either. They didn’t even send out emails to users, so those who didn’t log in during those three days didn’t find out until after the site was gone. We were completely abandoned and told that we should simply connect on Facebook. There are several reasons why this doesn’t work: 1) Facebook does not provide the anonymity and safety of a closed, monitored community, 2) many of the kids on Starbright World weren’t even allowed to make Facebook accounts, and 3) there is no chatroom where the kids can discuss about their experiences, and 4) it will not connect sick kids to each other in the future. The end of Starbright World was a travesty that hurt the very people it was designed to help. I am once again surrounded by people who don’t understand and can’t relate to me, and I feel more alone than ever. I can’t help but feel that Starlight Children’s Foundation doesn’t really care about sick children at all. While Starlight Children's Foundation has a good overall message they do not have the best interest for the teenagers involved in their social media website "Starbright World." Starbright World is a Facebook-like website for teenagers with chronic illnesses and the administration decided to shut down the website without warning to its members. Members had to put together other means of contact within three days before the site was to shutdown. It was a sudden notice that many were take aback by. Several members didn't even know the website was shutdown until after it was already done. Teenagers with chronic illnesses need the support of others to understand they are not alone and find a safe place to confide in others with their feelings. Instead of giving us support they destroyed the community we once had. Starlight Children's Foundation chose not to support those most vulnerable who needed them the most. Starlight Global advertise an incredible mission to 'empower donors and strengthen communities by supporting the physical and emotional health of children and their families where they live, work and play'. If only they stuck by this. Over the years, Starlight has had an incredible and positive impact in my life. I live in Australia, so I first came involved with Starlight through Starlight Australia, (which I will note is separate to Starlight Global), through the incredible Starlight Express Room at my paediatric hospital. Going to the Starlight Express Room was an incredible escape from my reality of what seemed like endless admissions, treatments and procedures and therapies. For a moment I could just forget about my reality, I could just go and joke around with the Starlight captains, chat about the things people my age usually would, play some games, do some art and just enjoy myself. It was incredible! It was here I was introduced to Livewire Online, which is Starlight Australia's great online social network for kids and young adults living a chronic or serious illness or disability, supporting them both in hospital and at home. At the time, this program was joined in a chat room with Starlight Global's similar program, Starbright World. I loved Starbright World right from day one. It was incredible. The impact it had on my life was even more incredible. When I joined Starbright World, I was not in a great place. Stuck in a hospital, far from home, after having had my life as I had known it, turned upside down and torn apart, I was incredibly withdrawn and isolated and felt misunderstood by those around me and felt I had little purpose in life. Starbright World changed that. It was like a chosen family right from the first time I logged on. For the first time ever, I felt as though someone understood what I was going through. I realised I was not alone in the challenges I faced. I could log in at any time and chat to people who had faced similar challenges and experiences, people I could relate to and gain invaluable advice and support from. But it was so much more than that as well, it was not all about the medical challenges we were facing, it was just like we were actual friends, talking about everything else that was happening in people's lives. How school or sport or art classes were going, the latest and greatest TV show, movie or music, celebrity gossip and whatever else came to mind. We played games, we watched movies together, we did everything. The distance between us was irrelevant! There was even more than this too though. During my years on Starbright World, I grew so much as an individual. Members and moderators shared their experiences of how they did not let their diagnoses and prognosis define what they achieved in life. It was the first time I realised, 'well, yes I have been told I will not be able to do much anymore, such as returning to education and sport, but why should that stop me at least trying?'. It made me realise that the world was still my oyster, anything was possible if I wanted it and put my mind to it. The support I received from everyone was incredible. They were there to help navigate and support me through the tough times, and celebrate with me during the great times. I was given incredible opportunities within the community, both in leadership and general skills that helped me gain and build on skills. I became a lot of confident and self motivated, and this helped build up my life outside of Starbright World too. I can safely say, that there is absolutely no way I would be where I am in life today, achieving what I am, without Starbright World. Because of Starbright World, I am living my life to the fullest. I am at university, studying medical research, I am heavily involved within my community, mentoring youth with disabilities, running seminars, am part of a youth disability advisory and advocacy board, am president of Sailability, an organisation aimed at getting people of all abilities on the water sailing and so much more. Because of Starbright World, I know that my diagnoses or prognosis's do not have to and now will not ever define what I can not do. Recently, Starlight Global made the incredibly sad decision to end this program, a program that was having an incredible impact of many people's lives. Now, I understand that there comes a time for all things to come to an end, and I also understand there sometimes comes a time when things are not longer viable, but Starlight Global tore this community apart in the worst possible way. They used foolish statistics, that showed how out of reach with the program they were, to notify the members of the community that there was no longer a need for the program and it would close in 72 hours. They had little care for this incredible community. They tore the communities home or landing place away from us without even notifying all of the members, some of whom had been members for years on end. To this day, they have still failed to notify all of the members. They just removed the site and all proof of its existence, which as a member of the site for years, find truly disappointing. Once again, Starlight Global claims to strengthen communities by supporting the physical and emotional health of children and their families where they live, work and play. They did everything but this. Very disappointed with Starlight Global, and I definitely think people should think twice about supporting this foundation in the future. Although the names may be misleading, Starlight Australia, and other Starlight counterparts, who are not part of the running of Starlight Global, around the world continue to have incredible impact on the lives of those living with chronic and serious illnesses and disabilities, through their amazing programs. Support should definitely continue of these organisations. A great organization however I believe they care to much about statistics. I was apart of a website the organization hosted called starbright world. This was a very useful website that I loved and would be on whenever I had spare time. But then when I logged on one time I saw they were closing the website down. They took everything I loved away in just three days. They did this because they said the need wasn't being fulfilled anymore. but they were wrong the need was definitely there I am sure lots of people would agree. we became a family. we needed each other to help cope with everything that was going on in our lives and a lot of us went through a lot and the people in charge of starbright just stopped it dead in its tracks fortunately we were able to stay connected through other means of social media but it just isn't the same. I wish we still had that outlet to just talk with other people that understood what we were going through... I think that Starlight has a very good idea and foundation. They are trying to bring teens with chronic illnesses together --like me-- they gave us a chat room and a "pulse" (looks a little like Facebook.) and it was the first time in all my life that I had friends that understood me and what I'm going though. It was the first time I've ever met someone with my medical condition. Starlight decided to take that all away from us. They notified us that Starbright world was closing. The pulse and the chat room, our connections and support systems. They told us all but three or four days before the website was to go dark. We scrambled to get each others face books and phone numbers. But there was nothing like Starbright world. It was my safe space to vent and be scared about hospital stays and health tests. Starlight took that away, with no notice, took it away with no consideration about what it was going to do to the community they were pulling apart. Starlight Children's Foundation is the epitome of a "mission driven" organization. Each employee whom I have interfaced with has shown how passionate they are to "improve the life and health of kids and families around the world". The campaigns they run, the partnerships they foster and the inspiring messages they share have created this community that pulls you in whether you are a patient, a family member or just a member of the general public. They raise awareness and it inspires you to help. My organization participated in the Play in May event and you could see the surge of light that the Starlight team gave our employees by making them feel they could be a part of this mission. They are energetic, inclusive, supportive and hands down our favorite non-profit! Starlight is a breath of fresh air- it heartwarming to see an organization who truly cares. Their work is inspiring and they are literally changing lives, one child at a time. The compassion and dedication they show to these children and their families is commendable. It is comforting to know that organizations such as theirs still exist. Great job Starlight, keep up the exceptional work! Starlight is a champion for kids. They get it. They have an incredible vision and understand how to successfully serve those in need of their help. I am a very proud to be a supporter for Starlight Children s Foundation and will remain so. The leadership and compassion coming from the CEO, Jacqueline Hart-Ibrahim, can be seen throughout the entire organization which continues to far exceed my expectations. It is very clear to me that Starlight is continuing on an extraordinary path of growth to partner "with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world." By uniting Starlight chapters under the global office, creating a revolutionary platform for hospitals to speak to donors directly, and much more, the Starlight Global Office is leading the charge in making sure children and families will always be the number one priority. Starlight has shown to be an exceptional organization with every interaction that I have... the staff is passionate, the dedication to the mission is evident and the work they do is inspirational. When I look at the nonprofit's I support, Starlight is my favorite:-) Starlight is awesome! Their mission, vision, staff, volunteers, execution, and the children/families they serve are incredible! They deserve every dollar they receive, and more! Starlight has been a great supporter of kids and families for many years. The great work they do is an inspiration to us all and I hope that they are here for many years to come. Keep up the great work! Ever since I became acquainted with Starlight, I've been touched by their mission and impressed by their focus to help kids as they navigate through difficult and often scary times. The Starlight staff and volunteers have been nothing but wonderful in their pursuit of this admirable goal. In highschool I volunteered with the Starlight Foundation at various events. Not only was it a fun and enriching way to pass the time, but it also helped teach me compassion and open-mindedness towards others. The joy in the children's faces was unforgettable! I co-founded Starlight thirty years ago by helping one seriously ill little boy live his dream. Here we are three decades later and Starlight is a fully professionalized, multi-national non-profit that has lifted up the lives of over 60 million kids, and their Moms and Dads and siblings. I could not be more proud. The incredible efficiency of our professional team, coupled with the same relentless drive to always put the children first, are humbling and give me great pride at every meeting (and there are a lot!) Go Team! My first experience with Starlight was working for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and was because of the Starlight Fun Center. Our kids LOVED the Fun Center and we could never have enough of them. Recently, Starlight has expanding their program offerings and now also supports pediatric facilities through their Wish List program. This organization has a huge impact on the lives of kids and families! Starlight is an incredible supporter of kids and their families. Thank you for the millions you serve and the impact you make every day on kids like mine. Kids Wish Network is a great source of support and coping in the field of Child Life. Within White Memorial Medical Center, KWN helps give our little patients a valuable referrence of what it means to be brave and resiliant during difficult times. KWN provides hours of fun and lifelong lessons for our patients. I could not perform my job as well without their constant support; it is truly a resource I have within my bag of tools!! Thank you Kids Wish Network!! I first lurned about sbw when thay was linked with Livewire sbw has been there to help me in the toughest time off need thay are allway there to listen to you and us and. Always give us helpfull tips I started using Starbright World as a sick teen in the hospital and then at home as a way to reach out to others like me. It is a wonderful program for teens and young adults up to age 21, who need help relating to others like themselves, knowing that their not alone. It helped me feel that way, and showed me that even though that we may be far apart spread across the country we are all together as one, the same. Starbright World/Starlight is truly amazing. The friends I have made here, we have laughed, cried, and been angry, sad and happy together. And we show no judgement. I am so glad I found it. I used SBW from the ages of 13 to 21 and for the entire time it has helped me so much. SBW hasn't only helped me feel welcome and feel like I was around people who understand me, SBW helped me find a friend. i've been part of Starbright World since I was thirteen. I'm twenty now. It's a great, great organization and helps so many people through their struggle with illness or watching someone struggle with an illness. It serves not only in the US, but also Canada, and other places. It helps children and teens feel less alone during times they are struggling and helps them smile, even if they are in the hospital. As a kid I spent a lot of time in the hospital. Starlight and especially their Starbright World program an online chat room for seriously ill teens. Starbright World helped me connect to others going through a similar experience. It helped me socialize and helped me make the transition from home to hospital more easily. I can’t even begin to express how deeply my life has been touched and deeply enriched by the Starlight Children's Foundation from first being a member on Starbright World and now being a volunteer and mentor. I have had the honor and privilege of working closely with the staff members and volunteers and therefore I have gotten to see how dedicated staff is at Starlight and the way that they interact with the families that are involved in the foundation. Each and everyone of them give 110% to make Starlight the very best that it can be and it is felt be everyone. The Starlight Children's Foundation allows kids, teens, and their families to participate in activities and be involved in a community where they feel safe and are surrounded by kindness, love, and compassion. While I could easily speak for myself about how this foundation has changed my life, I think speaking on behalf of my late husband, Spencer, gives an even better testament of the life changing benefits that Starlight has on kids and teens. Spencer was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease called cystic fibrosis when he was 13 years old. His health declined so quickly after his diagnosis in part of not understanding what it took to stay healthy and partly of not having enough hope or reason to live. He became incredibly isolated in the hospital and at home and had no one to connect with. Spencer was able to utilize fun centers from the Foundation while in the hospital to keep his mind off of his medical treatments and when Starbright World was introduced to him he felt a since of belonging again. He was able to relate with other teenagers who were sick and fighting for their lives his like he was. By talking with others in his situation he understood how important his treatments were and he was given invaluable mentorship by staff and volunteers that made him strive be be his best even though he was handed a really crummy deck of cards in life. Starbright World gave Spencer hope and reason to keep pushing forward despite all adversities. SBW gave him life long friendships that he continues to have even after he passed away. Starbright World and the Starlight Children's Foundation gave Spencer a family that made his life so much better and worth living. This is only a small part of what Starlight is able to give, how Starlight affects thousands of kids and families, and how Starlight changes lives. when i was diagnosed with crohns at age 12 no one in my family understood, i was led to starbright world through the uc and crohns teens website when i turned 13 , i love chatting to everyone and i have like 9 friends with ibd , i love going on and chatting with the hosts , i spread the word of my project to raise awareness of ibd through sbw and everyone helped , especially host rasarella I have been involved with the Starlight Children's Foundation for over five years. During this time I have been positively impacted in a way that has forever changed my life. Without Starlight I don't think I would be the positive, compassionate and bubbly person I am today. Starlight brings out the best in people who have "bad" circumstances by showing them that they are never alone. I know others, like myself, will definitely support Starlight in changing the world, one person at a time; as I hope you will too! My name is Alisha and I found Starbright world when I was 13. I was already battling one illness, and undiagnosed with others. During my time here I've been diagnosed with 2 other illnesses. These diagnosis processes were long and exhausting, and there were many days spent in doctor's offices and many nights spent in the hospital, and there were many many tests. Starlight has meant so much to me, back when I was very ill and fighting for my life, and now as I am fighting towards remission. The people I've met on Starbright world, hosts, volunteers and others with illnesses like mine, have been so supportive and encouraging, and I don't know how I would have gotten through this without them. The fun bags starlight provided when I was in the hospital was a source of fun and a way to ease my mind as I faced upcoming tests, and the super cool teen room and the people was a way to let me just be a kid, even when I felt like I'd had to grow up too fast. I guess I'm trying to say that Starlight has meant the world to me. It's given me the courage to dream, it gave me the courage to fight for my life and now it continues to give me the courage to walk every day in remission, and to adjust to this new way of life. My name is Bri! I have been a member of Starlight and Starbright World for 2 years now. Starlight has helped me in so many different ways! Their online social network Starbright World for teens with illnesses has helped me make so many close friends who also have illnesses! I would recommend Starlight and Starbright World to any teen who has an illness so they can get support from so many awesome people! I have lived with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis for nearly my entire life. The complications from this disease and the medications that I take for it are many and painful. I also live with asthma and other conditions. Early last year I was sitting at home unable to do much of anything because I was so sick. It occurred to me to wonder if there was any way for me to connect with peers who also were sick. I was lonely, sad, and had no way to discuss my pain with anyone. After a simple Google search Starbright World came up at the top of the list. I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard of SBW before. I applied to join that day. SBW has been an amazing influence in my life. Ever since joining I have felt so much less isolated. When I'm too sick to leave the house I still have someone that I can talk to. The people on SBW are friendly and welcoming. It's hard to be sick, but with SBW it gets a little bit easier. You can talk freely about your illness without fear of being judged. People can share their experiences with different procedures and medications and help others through their journey. Hi! My name is Carole and I am a member of Starlight Children's Foundation's online community, Starbright World! As a child, I was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy. I became involved with Starlight at a young age and was introduced to Starbright World by the time I was twelve. As I transitioned into my adolescent years, I found myself connecting with other members who empathized with the struggles of being a teenager with a disability. Through this mutual understanding and tight knit community, I was able to grow and assume a leadership position among my peers online. Almost a decade later, I am still involved with Starbright World. I enjoy mentoring and engaging with the younger members, encouraging them to seek education, adventure, and independence. I am currently studying The University of Arizona and I am majoring in English, Creative Writing, and Psychology. I attribute many of my leadership skills and ability to empathize with others as a result of Starbright World! I love this community! Srarlight and Starbightworld has been a huge blessing in my life. When i joined, I was in a deep depression due to my health problems. And they helped me overcome and find purpose in life again. They continue to encourage me to keep up with my treatments and give support in my weird situations. Thank you all!!
Avengers: Infinity War has finally landed on Digital HD and is about to hit Blu-ray, and a whole new wave of MCU movies are on the way in 2019. With so many films and TV series making up this shared universe, it can be tough to keep track of all the major players. Consider this a refresher course on where your heroes (and a few villains) currently are, where we last left them, and where they might be going in the ever-evolving shared universe that is the MCU. From the Avengers (are they still together?) to Spider-Man (uhhhhh) to Captain Marvel (who's that now?), we break it all down for you below. Just beware of spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Agents of SHIELD! Tony Stark’s worst nightmare came true in Avengers: Infinity War. Despite all his efforts to prepare Earth for the threat he knew was coming, he failed to stop Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet and wiping out half of all life in the universe. The cruelest stroke of all is that Stark’s surrogate son Peter Parker died in his arms. Last seen on Thanos' devastated homeworld Titan, expect a much darker, bitter version of this normally wisecracking billionaire superhero in Avengers 4. Steve Rogers has abandoned the mantle of Captain America and spent the two years since the events of Captain America: Civil War as a fugitive from the law. He and his Secret Avengers finally resurfaced to join the fight against Thanos in Infinity War. But while Steve survived the chaotic battle in Wakanda -- where we last saw him -- most of his team wasn’t so lucky. It’s been a difficult journey for Thor of late. The god of thunder had his hammer destroyed by Hela and sacrificed Asgard to save his people. Then many of those same people were slaughtered by Thanos and the Black Order. Thor found his revenge by forging a new hammer and mortally wounding Thanos, but not before the Mad Titan used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out trillions of lives -- including, presumably, even more Asgardians. Thor, however, survived. Despite initially siding with Iron Man’s faction in Captain America: Civil War, Natasha Romanoff eventually defected and joined Steve Rogers’ Secret Avengers. She survived the bloody battle at Wakanda where many of her friends didn’t. Clint Barton is the only member of the original Avengers not to join the fight against Thanos. Having already violated the law once during Civil War, Clint apparently preferred to stay home with his family (under house arrest) rather than push his luck again. But assuming he survived Thanos’ snap, we suspect he’ll be eager to make up for lost time in Avengers 4. Bruce Banner exiled himself from Earth after losing control of his darker half in Avengers: Age of Ultron. That led to a brief stint as a space gladiator before Banner reunited with Thor and returned to Earth. Unfortunately, after being beaten half to death by Thanos, Hulk seems unwilling to manifest himself anymore, leaving Banner to wear the Hulkbuster armor instead during the battle in Wakanda. He, too, survived Thanos' snap. Peter Parker proved himself as a hero on his own terms by defeating Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Then he got his first taste of being an Avenger in Infinity War. Unfortunately, he became one of the trillions of casualties when Thanos snapped his fingers. The good news is that production is underway on Spider-Man: Far From Home, so his death won’t last long. Wanda Maximoff is one of the Avengers who defected and joined Steve Rogers' underground team. Despite being on opposite sides of the fight, she fell in love with Vision and became instrumental in the fight against Thanos. But despite sacrificing her lover for the fate of the universe during the battle in Wakanda, Thanos reversed time and claimed his final prize anyway -- the Mind Stone nestled in Vision's forehead. Wanda was one of many heroes to be wiped out of existence by Thanos' snap. Vision became a primary target of Thanos and the Black Order in Infinity War, as his synthetic body and mind are powered by the Mind Stone itself. He was ultimately killed when Thanos harvested the stone and completed his gauntlet. However, at the time Shuri was working furiously to rewire Vision’s mind and free him of his bond to the stone, suggesting he may return in a new form in Avengers 4. After years of struggling against Hydra’s brainwashing, Bucky Barnes was finally his own man again. The brilliant scientists of Wakanda healed his mind and provided him with a fancy new cybernetic arm. Unfortunately, none of that was enough to stop Bucky from becoming a casualty of Thanos’ intergalactic genocide. Sam Wilson has been a faithful member of Steve Rogers’ Secret Avengers, ever since being broken out of the Raft. He joined the fight against Thanos but became one more Avenger to fall at Thanos’ hand. Cap's love interest (and Peggy Carter's great niece, and we're not gonna judge at all here, Cap...) Sharon Carter was last seen helping Rogers secure his team's equipment prior to Team Cap's battle with Team Iron Man. Whether or not her position as a CIA agent was affected by this act is currently unclear. As is whether or not she was snapped out of existence, for that matter. James Rhodes sided with his best friend Tony Stark during the conflict over the Superhuman Registration Act, and he paid a terrible price when he was paralyzed in the ensuing battle. That didn’t stop Rhodey from defying his government’s orders and joining forces with his ex-teammates once Thanos came calling. Rhodey is one of the few Avengers to have survived the conflict with Thanos, and was last seen in Wakanda. Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan Tony Stark's former assistant and girlfriend Pepper Potts is now the CEO of Stark Industries. While they ended their romantic relationship prior to the events of Civil War -- because Tony could not detach himself from the Iron Man and Avengers lifestyle -- by the time of Infinity War the two are engaged to be married. Pepper and Tony’s bodyguard Happy Hogan both appeared in Homecoming along with Stark. Pepper herself was last seen urging Tony not to board Thanos’ spaceship in Infinity War. It is unknown whether or not they survived Thanos' assault. Loki and the Asgardians There don't seem to be too many Asgardians left in the universe. Many were slaughtered by Hela, and then even more by Thanos and the Black Order -- and that was before the snap! Heimdall and the Warriors Three are dead. Even Loki was killed by Thanos after finally siding with his fellow Asgardians. Sif, however, remains whereabouts unknown. Valkyrie, Korg and Miek Valkyrie another Asgardian whose whereabouts are currently unaccounted for. This Asgardian warrior reclaimed her birthright after a little prodding from Thor, but as far as we know, she mysteriously vanished before Thanos’ attack on the Asgardian refugees. Ditto the aliens Korg and Miek, who had joined with the Asgardians at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. Still, they and Valkyrie could still be alive and ready to join the fight in Avengers 4. Hela and Surtur The goddess of death Hela returned to conquer Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok. However, her reign didn’t last long, as Thor unleashed the mighty Surtur on his beloved home. Surtur was last seen bringing his massive sword down on Asgard, and it’s unclear whether he or Hela survived its destruction. And even if they did, how Thanos' snap might've affected them. It’s been a while since Thor has seen his human friends. Jane Foster and Thor ended their romance by the time of Thor: Ragnarok (long distance relationships!), although the Asgardian has been known to consult with Dr. Erik Selvig as recently as the Ultron incident. It’s unknown whether Jane, Erik or Darcy the intern -- or the intern's intern Ian! -- survived Thanos’ attack. After avenging his father’s death and reclaiming his throne from Killmonger, T’Challa took the first steps toward opening up Wakanda to the outside world. That included offering a safe haven to Vision and the Avengers in Infinity War. Unfortunately, T’Challa was one of many to be wiped out by Thanos, leaving the surviving Wakandans to mourn yet another monarch. T’Challa’s younger sister is responsible for many of Wakanda’s most impressive pieces of technology. She worked to free Vision’s mind of its connection to the Mind Stone in Infinity War. Whether she completed her task or even survived Thanos’ act of cosmic mass-murder remains to be seen (she was last seen in her lab during the battle in Wakanda). But if she lives, she may well be next in line to the Wakandan throne. The Dora Milaje The Dora Milaje are the most skilled warriors in Wakanda. Okoye and her soldiers bravely defended her homeland from both Killmonger and the Black Order. She survived Thanos’s devastating attack, only to find her fellow Wakandans dissolving before her eyes. She’ll no doubt be a valuable asset to the depleted Avengers now. It remains to be seen if T’Challa’s lover Nakia, who is a member of the nation's War Dogs spy agency, also survived this conflict. CIA agent Everett Ross has unexpectedly found himself become the outside world’s leading expert on Wakanda. He recently helped T’Challa defend his homeland from a takeover by Killmonger, earning the king’s undying gratitude in the process. However, T'Challa is currently dead and it is unknown if Ross survived Thanos' attack. Star-Lord and Gamora They may be two-time galaxy savers, but the Guardians of the Galaxy have seen better days. Gamora was murdered by her adoptive father Thanos in order to summon the Soul Stone, while Star-Lord basically blew the plan to defeat Thanos because of his rage over her death. Which then allowed Thanos to snap away most of the other Guardians, including Star-Lord himself... Rocket and Groot After heading out on a space adventure with their new friend Thor, Rocket and Groot found themselves on Earth fighting alongside the Avengers in the battle in Wakanda. Unfortunately, Groot was snapped away by Thanos while Rocket survived -- only to watch his friend dissolve. Director James Gunn has since revealed that Groot's last words, as he looked to Rocket, could be translated into "Dad." Drax and Mantis Drax and Mantis did their best to battle Thanos on Titan alongside Star-Lord, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Nebula, but in the end they ceased to exist when Thanos snapped his fingers all the way back on Earth. The only two Guardians to survive the events of Infinity War were Rocket back on Earth and Nebula on Titan. Interestingly, the daughter of Thanos now finds herself stranded on that world with just one other survivor -- Tony Stark. Who could've predicted that team-up would ever happen? Dr. Stephen Strange proved his worth by defeating Dormammu and becoming Earth’s first line of defense against supernatural threats. He joined the fight against Thanos but made the questionable decision to hand over the Time Stone to his enemy. If Strange is to be believed, it was the only way to achieve ultimate victory. Unfortunately, he was wiped from existence before he could elaborate. Wong remains Strange’s faithful assistant. When he was last seen in Infinity War, he resumed guarding the Sanctum Sanctorum in Strange’s absence. As for Strange’s former ally, Karl Mordo, he’s in the midst of a quest to rid the world of those he sees as being unworthy of wielding magical power. Whether either of these wizards survived Thanos’ attack remains to be seen. The dread Dormammu was outsmarted by Doctor Strange in their first encounter, but the extra-dimensional entity which rules over the Dark Dimension exists still in that warped domain -- unless it too was snapped away by Thanos. Either way, it seems unlikely that Strange has seen the last of the immensely powerful being. Scott Lang found himself on the wrong side of the law again during Captain America: Civil War, and has spent the ensuing two years under house arrest. That didn’t stop him from suiting up to help battle Ghost and rescue Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm. Though he succeeded and is once again a free man, Scott found himself trapped in the Quantum Realm when Hank Pym, Janet and their daughter Hope were wiped out by Thanos. The Pym Family Hope van Dyne recently took up the mantle of Wasp in her mother’s absence and has become a superhero in her own right. Unfortunately, no sooner did she and her father succeed in rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm than all three were killed by Thanos’ attack. Hulk's Friends and Enemies Most of the cast of The Incredible Hulk has not been seen since that film was released in 2008 (even the green one himself was recast), but somewhere out there -- assuming Thanos' snap didn't get them -- Bruce Banner's love interest Betty Ross is alive and well, as is Emil Blonsky/Abomination -- albeit in captivity in a cryocell in Alaska. General Thaddeus Ross is now the U.S. Secretary of State and was a key player in enacting the Sokovia Accords. And the scientist Samuel Sterns was last seen becoming infected by Banner's blood, apparently doomed to become the hyper-intelligent and cranially-expansive villain known as the Leader. He has not been seen onscreen since. Thanos finally stepped out of the shadows in Avengers: Infinity War. The Mad Titan carried out his master plan to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet and force the universe into his twisted vision of balance. Thanos ultimately succeeded in wiping out half of all life, though not before losing most of his children and being gravely wounded by Thor. It’s unclear whether Thanos even survived his final act of villainy or if his soul is now trapped within the Soul Stone. The Black Order The Black Order was comprised of Thanos’ four children, making them four of the most accomplished killers in the universe. They were instrumental in helping their father carry out his plans, though all four were ultimately killed in battle with the Avengers. The original leader of Hydra was seemingly killed at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, but Infinity War revealed that he was instead transported to the remote world of Vormir. There he maintained a lonely vigil, guarding the Soul Stone until Thanos finally arrived to claim it. It is unclear what his true nature was at that point, and whether or not Thanos' snap might've affected him. MCU fans have yet to see Carol Danvers in the flesh, though she’ll be making her debut in 2019’s Captain Marvel. That film will explore her ‘90s-era origins, while she’s poised to return in the present day in Avengers 4. Right before he was snapped out of existence, Nick Fury summoned Captain Marvel via an old-school emergency beacon. Let's hope she too hadn't been snapped away so she can receive the call! Nick Fury and Maria Hill Nick Fury and his right-hand-woman Maria Hill have remained active despite the dissolution of SHIELD. They were last seen responding to the Thanos crisis in the post-credits scene for Avengers: Infinity War. Both were wiped out of existence, but not before Fury activated that beeper that summoned Captain Marvel. The Agents of SHIELD Phil Coulson and his Agents of SHIELD remain very active, if typically disconnected from the events of the Avengers and the rest of the MCU movies. Recent adventures have included run-ins with various enhanced individuals and advanced tech in the wake of the Sokovia Accords, including the Ghost Rider, the Life Model Decoy program, and most recently... outer space. Unfortunately, Coulson himself recently retired, realizing that the end of his life is fast approaching. A new generation of heroes has emerged to defend the streets of New York in Netflix’s various MCU series. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist had their first big team-up in The Defenders: Season 1. That team doesn’t look to be due for a reunion anytime soon, but these four heroes will continue to fight on their own. Even Daredevil, who was believed to have been killed in his final battle with The Hand, is returning for a third season. Presumably none of the Netflix heroes will be affected by Thanos' snap since these shows barely acknowledge that they exist within the MCU. Frank Castle has been busy waging a one-man war on crime while simultaneously working to expose those in the military who betrayed him and had his family killed. With a little help from his new partner, Micro, Castle was able to clear his name and is finally a free man once more. Unfortunately, he may have a serious problem on his hands when his old Marine buddy Billy Russo finally wakes up from his coma... While the Inhumans were first introduced on Agents of SHIELD, the best known characters from the comics -- the Inhuman royal family of Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Crystal, Maximus and the rest -- finally got their own TV series, depicting a threat to the family as their rule over a hidden city on the moon came under a military coup, forcing them to go on the run on Earth. As the show's first season ended, Black Bolt trapped his evil brother Maximus on the moon, before joining his fellow Inhumans on Earth, their new home. One can only hope they were snapped away by Thanos...
The Land of Hidden Volcanoes Dating back millions of years, volcanic activity has molded Tenerife in to the unique and fascinating island we see today. Touring the island you will be amazed by the ever changing, dramatic landscapes and spectacular scenery providing backdrops for some unforgettable holiday experiences Join travel writer Jane Dunford and local guide Jose Ramon on a journey through the five key volcanic areas… and discover the natural side of Tenerife In the north west of Tenerife the Teno Rural Park dates back over 7 million years, when huge amounts of balsatic lava created an immense volcano that emerged from the seabed. What remains today is effectively an island within an island, with inland cliffs, rugged mountains, deep ravines and gorges. A highlight is the area around the Punta di Teno lighthouse, Tenerife’s most westerly point, where the sheer Los Gigantes cliffs plunge in to the sea. Its a popular spot for swimming in the natural pools, fishing, watersports and of course just enjoying the amazing views. The coastline is impressive but heading inland, towards the village of Masca the drama continues… Don’t like speeded up footage Together with Anaga in the northeast and Adeje in the south, Teno belongs to the old volcanic regions where volcanic activity stopped a long long time ago, millions of years ago. That’s why, in the area, we don’t get to see volcanic cones or lava flows so common on the rest of Tenerife. Soft materials like those have been washed away by erosion. This is the village of Masca behind us Yes also known as the lost village because the road was only open in the early 70s so actually Masca was not known, not even for the rest of the islanders, til the road was open in 1971 I guess the hiking in this area must be incredible That’s the main thing, they can hike from Masca to all different places towards the coastline, towards the mountains and wherever you go here there is always something that will surprise you…there is a beautiful path that links the village with the seafront. Once you get down to the seafront you have the biggest cliffs, Los Gigantes, the giants we call them because those are the biggest cliffs on Tenerife. It has to be one of the most spectacular views on the island A Volcanic Experience tour with local operator El Cardon, provides an insight into not only the geology but local traditions including a demonstration of the famous ‘Salto del Pastor’ – a technique developed by shepherds over the years to follow their flocks across the seemingly inpenetrable landscape. And lastly in this land of ancient volcanoes, don’t miss the colourful seaside town of Garachico – nestling beneath a 1500ft cliff, in the 16th century, this was the most important port on the north coast until it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1706. Garachico is a lovely old town, very sleepy, very authentic, gorgeous location. Lovely boutique hotels, really quaint little village square, a fantastic base if you are staying in the north. Over three million years ago, the most active centre of volcanic activity shifted toward the central zone of Tenerife. First a great dorsal mountain range was formed, with concentrations of lava accumulating on each side, in the form of spurs, leaving deep "valleys" with very different characteristics Güímar Valley, to the south, is a dry barren landscape with its own unique flora – best appreciated with a walk through the Special Nature Reserve. La Oratava Valley to north, benefits from more rainfall and a rich volcanic soil, perfect for growing the kind of crops for which Tenerife has become famous worldwide. Bananas of course are the island’s best known export, but increasingly its wines are also making their mark. We have 15 different types of wine, most of them are reds, but they are made with unique grapes from the Canaries. We have for example, this one Drago Blanco, its made with Listan blanco. The grapes we have here you cannot find anywhere else, that’s because here we didn’t get Filoxera, a disease that destroyed the vineyards in Europe but it didn’t come here so the whites are unique from the Canaries. And why is Tenerife such a good wine producer? Well we have the perfect conditions, the weather is always sunny, the volcanic soil is very rich so we can produce any type of grape and plants No visit to La Oratava Valley would be complete without visiting the town of the same name – packed with examples of grand, traditional Canarian homes dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, some now housing exhibits of local produce and crafts. And what better way to truly appreciate the amazing lush landscapes of the northern Tenerife than from the air No visit to Tenerife would be complete without a visit to Mount Teide National Park at the very heart of the island. Rising 3718 metres above sea level Mount Teide itself is the highest point in Spain, the third highest volcano in the world and the whole National Park was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2007. So we’ve been exploring the park and its just huge isn’t it and so many different landscapes Yes definitely, we started off on the west side of the park where we saw the black cinder cones and lava flows which proves the youth of that region. Then we stopped at the famous Garcias Rock, which is the result of erosion of volcanic areas. We’ve seen Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain and now we are here in this kind of lunar landscape You could spend days here there’s so much to see Yes there’s a Parador where you can stay overnight or you can stay up there on the top of Mount Teide or something that I highly recommend, if you like hiking, is a trip to the top of the mountain, stay there overnight and then early in the morning you walk up to the very top of Mount Teide and wait for the sun to come up, that is incredible Wow, that must be amazing. Heading back down from Teide National Park you come to two of the most important places on the island. La Laguna, the island’s first major settlement and Santa Cruz, the capital. In Santa Cruz take in the Auditorium along the seafront esplanade, explore the Museum of Man and Nature and the neighbouring TEA arts centre or enjoy drinks and tapas on the lively Calle de Noria Nearby La Laguna has a very different feel and it remains the cultural, religious and academic centre of Tenerife. In 1999 the historical centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been beautifully restored to showcase the traditional architecture. Small boutiques, vintage shops as well as characterful bars and restaurants and a varied events and festivals programme is drawing in growing numbers of visitors. Continuing to the north east you come to The Anaga, geologically one of the oldest parts of the island and another stunning area for hiking. Explore the rugged north eastern coastline from the tiny village of Taganana and discover yet more breathtaking views Or head inland to the vast ancient forests that cover this part of the island, easily accessible by well marked trails and walks This is called the Path of the Senses and there are boards around encouraging you to interact with the forest - to smell the smells, touch the bark feel everything around you and to really feel part of the forest Suitable for all grades of walker, including families, Jose Ramon tells us more about this very special forest… This is called Laurisilver, it actually means Laurel Forest. This is the type of forest that stretched out across Europe and north of Africa before the Ice Age. Experts have found fossil trees and plants in this forest that are still alive. So its very different to the rest of the island isn’t it Yes indeed, on the rest of Tenerife, there’s plenty of cinder cones and lava flows, this is completely different. Volcanic activity stopped in this region about 3 million years ago so we are visiting one the of oldest volcanic regions on Tenerife LAND OF CONTRASTS Millions of years of volcanic activity have resulted in creating an island that is geographically jam packed with contrasts and surprises. Within a relatively short driving distance from north to south you will find yourself travelling through such dramatically different landscapes its almost like time travel. A day trip from the north could for example begin with a walk or swim from one of Tenerife’s distinctive black beaches. Moments later, you could be passing by banana plantations and vineyards Call in at Icod de los Vinos, a characterful small town on the north coast and home to the famous El Drago, the world oldest and biggest specimen of the endemic yucca type Dragon tree. More record breaking can be found just a few minutes down the road at the Visitor Centre for the Cave of the Wind, the largest lava tube in Europe How was the cave formed? So it was 27000 years ago, the lava flowed down from Pico Viejo and the process was similar to when you throw away one bucket of water, yes. So in this case the lava was flowing down to find the sea, the surface dried and the lava continued underneath and then produce volcanic pipe. How long is the visit? Here at the visitor centre we have a presentation for 20 minutes, the with 2 minibuses we go from here to the top to the mountain, about 5 minutes, then we are going to walk 20 minutes in the forest, talk about the plants, animals and geology and then 1 hour and 20 minute inside of the cave. So in total about 2 hours 20 minutes Back on the road from the black coast, through the green valleys, following the route of the lava flows up towards Mount Teide before too long you reach the Coronal Forest, a dense ring of Canarian Pines encircling the National Park and then emerging from the forest, you will find yourself heading towards the strange and varied landscapes of the National Park We are in the area where we can see all these fairly recent cinder cones, that’s the reason its so black, so dark. There’s the one that destroyed Garachico in 1706 or the Chinyero which was the last volcanic eruption on the island in 1909 The height of the National Park and the low levels of light pollution provide the perfect conditions for star gazing… Here we have a very clear air, very static air so the sky quality is very high, very good for star gazing. So we are high up, above the clouds, its amazingly clear and calm up here Yes, usually the clouds are around 1500 metres altitude here we are around 2000 metres so here we are very sure we have the best conditions. Recognised by the Starlight Foundation as a Starlight Tourist Destination, Tenerife is one of the best places in the world to appreciate the magnificent night skies. LAND OF LIGHT In the south of Tenerife the contrasts may not be as obvious but the volcanic influences are still very evident. The landscape is so very different from the north, its much more bleached out and you don’t have the rugged dark volcanic landscape that we saw before This place where we are is the result of very violent volcanic eruptions and the material that we are looking at is called pumice. Traditionally locals have used it for construction, they also used it for farming because this material keeps the humidity in the ground in this dry southern part of the island. On this south east coast we get Trade Winds affecting the Canaries and that’s why its the perfect spot for wind and kite surfing And its not just activities above the water that make the southerly coastline so special. The perfect water temperature makes watersports including diving, a year round activity. Diving instructor and passionate conservationist, David Nobillo introduces Flyover, a one to one diving excursion that is open even to novice divers… Flyover is an experience for kids from 12 years to 99 – the dive is going to be with an instructor face to face and hand to hand, the idea is to have the feeling of the ocean. The turtles are the star of the area, the green girls of the area, but we can show you the area, and while you enjoy it with the ocean, what we can do all the time is control the health of the animals. Its our work to teach the people to respect the things that they come to see Staying with a south coast ocean theme, there is one more excursion not to miss… We are going to go 2/3 miles and we are going to find the pilot whale. How likely are we to see them In this part of the island we have 5/600 of these whales around here, we see them every day. This is one of the best places in the world to see whales and dolphins because we can see 30 different types Usually I’d think of seeing whales, you know, wrapped up warm, maybe out in Canada but this is just lovely, the sun is shining, the sea is so calm, just waiting for the whales to appear… Between Tenerife and La Gomera its 3000 metres deep, this is why the whales are so close on the coast. In other countries you need to go out a long way to see whales but here you can see them very close. This part of the island is like a natural cover for the whales. A detailed look at the five Volcanic zones of Tenerife. Travelguru Jane Dunford, accompanied by local guide, Jose Ramon Gonzalez learns about how the island was formed and how the volcanic origins influence all aspects of life on the island The five Volcanic zones are: Ancient Volcanoes – the north west of Tenerife and home to Teno Rural Park, effectively an island within an island. Activities include cultural and eco tours, hiking and mountain biking Two Valleys – the dry barren landscape of the Guimar Valley contrasted with the lush and fertile La Oratava Valley. Activities include paragliding and mountain biking Legendary Volcano – the region from Mount Teide in the very centre of the island heading east to the capital Santa Cruz and the north eastern Anaga Rural Park. Activities include hiking, climbing and surfing Land of Contrast – a diverse and geologically fascinating region from the north west coast to the centre of the island. Activities include the Cave of the Wind Lava Tunnel, wine tasting, hiking and star gazing Land of Light – the paler landscapes of the south, dominated by pumice stone. Activities include waterspouts, diving and whale watching For general information on holidays in Tenerife click here Tenerife Tourism Other Tenerife videos Below is a selection of videos highlighting different aspects of Tenerife produced in association with Tenerife Tourism Share this Video We work with tour operators, tourist boards, cruise lines, airlines and hotels to create great content. Ultimately we all want the same thing…for as many people as possible to watch the videos, engage with them and best of all, be inspired to follow in our footsteps. travelguru.tv content is free to use in its original form and can be shared, embedded in websites or used in other marketing activity directly from our YouTube channel. 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"Your Holiday Planner for Nepal Adventure" While there is so much to see here, following is a list of recommended places to visit in Nepal. There is of course much, much more, but this will get you started. Everywhere you look in Nepal’s capital city (pop. 535,000) there is something of interest – perhaps a small ancient temple tucked in a row of shops, an old stone figure set in the middle of the pavement, a religious sadhu in bright saffron robes meditating on the steps of a building or a Tibetan refugee spinning his prayer wheel as he walks down the street. Although their lives are guided by ancient tradition, the residents of Kathmandu are not walking anachronisms, and visiting there is not like a trip back in time. Citizens live very much in the present but have thoroughly integrated their traditions into their modern lives. Kathmandu Durbar square The highest concentration of attractions is within the area of Durbar Square (small admission charge). There are dozens of buildings, monuments and shrines of interest within less than a square mile. Among the most impressive structures are the 16th-century pagoda-style Taleju Temple, the old Royal Palace (which has the best view of the city) and the Kumari Bahal, or Temple of the Living Goddess. (A girl is chosen at the age of five to be the living form of the goddess Taleju until she reaches puberty. After that, she returns to normal life and another is selected.) Be sure to stop at the Jagnath Temple to see the erotic carvings and at the Shiva-Parvati Temple, where statues of the gods stand in an ornately carved window and look down on the action in the square below. Just off the square is Freak Street, which is well past its prime but still has a bit of the flavor it had when it was a hangout for Western hippies during the ’60s and ’70s. A short rickshaw ride north of Durbar Square is the neighborhood of Thamel. Thanks to an abundance of cheap (but quite serviceable) hotels and eateries, the area is flooded with tourists of every nationality, but the neighborhood’s energy and abundance of useful shops make it an enjoyable experience. Souvenir stands, craft shops, bookstores, bars, trekking companies and Internet cafes crowd the narrow streets, as do scores upon scores of roving vendors who will offer you everything from Tiger Balm to Hindu statuettes to hashish. A 30-minute walk west of Durbar Square in Kathmandu (taxis are also available) brings you to the base of a wide staircase leading up to the Buddhist Swayambhunath Temple. It’ll take another 7-10 minutes to scale the 300 stairs (it’s also called the Monkey Temple, and any visitor will quickly see why: The little guys are everywhere). From the top, you’ll have a panoramic view of the Kathmandu Valley from one of the oldest and most impressive stupas in Nepal. The Nepal Natural History Museum is located behind Swayambhunath Hill. Bouddhanath is the center of Tibetan culture in the valley. Its main attraction is a gigantic stupa (religious spire). Try to visit the town during a festival, when the stupa is the focus of activity. The Tibetan new-year celebrations (Losar), which usually take place in February or March, are an especially stirring blend of worldly merrymaking and religious activity. For those interested in knowing more about Tibetan Buddhism, Bodhnath – which has more than 20 monasteries – is the place to go. Most of the monasteries welcome visitors. Free introductory discourses are given every Saturday morning at Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery, which is a two-minute walk north of the stupa. (Expect to see many other Westerners there.) An hour’s walk north through green rice fields is the Buddhist monastery in Kopan, where a monthlong meditation course is given every November. Pashupatinath, one of the most famous Hindu sites in the world. It contains numerous ancient temples and draws pilgrims from all over the region. Non-Hindus can’t enter the main Shiva temple, but stationing yourself on the opposite bank of the Bagmati River (which, like the Ganges, is considered holy) affords a nice view of the courtyard and the gilded roofs surrounding it. In front of the temple and farther downstream are ghats, platforms used for cremating bodies. (Although the cremation is performed in public, it’s important to remember that it is essentially a very private ritual. Feel free to watch, but do so respectfully.) The temple area and the surrounding forest are also home to quite a few ash-pale sadhus, holy men who have cast away their possessions and devoted their lives to religious contemplation (which, in some cases, involves smoking abundant marijuana). On Shivaratri, the Great Night of Shiva, which usually falls in early March, as many as 400,000 pilgrims gather in Pashupatinath to celebrate. The temples are also home to many monkeys, who occasionally will scamper down from their perches to make off with travelers’ food and cameras – so hold them tight. Patan, is within bicycling distance of the capital. (It’s also easily reached by taxi.) Patan’s attractions are similar to those in Kathmandu, but the atmosphere is not quite as lively (if Kathmandu didn’t exist, however, people would rave about Patan). Patan’s Durbar Square is in some ways more picturesque and orderly than Kathmandu’s, and the temples lining it are definitely worth exploring. (If you have time, stay and enjoy the sunset from one of the many rooftop restaurants lining the square.) In addition to its Royal Palace and the inevitable souvenir stalls, the square boasts Patan Museum, a wonderfully renovated 18th-century building housing a rich collection of cultural artifacts. Next to the museum, look for the sunken-tap area, where water flows out of the mouths of metal buffalo and crocodile heads. Also in town is the Hiranya Varna Mahabihar (Golden Temple), which has a gold-leaf roof and superb ancient wall paintings. Patan is also home to the only zoo in Nepal, the Jawalakhel Zoo, which holds tigers, rhinos and lesser critters. Bhaktapur, is definitely worth visiting (tourists must pay an entrance fee of about US$15). Bhaktapur can be reached by public transport (on the Chinese-built electric trolley system) or by a short taxi ride. The town is a bit more relaxing than Kathmandu and has three interesting squares: Taumadhi Tole, Durbar and Potter’s. There are several nice gompas (Buddhist temples) in Taumadhi Tole – our favorite is the five-story Nyatapola Temple, which has large stone animal figures flanking its staircase. You can get a view of the temple and the rest of the square from the multilevel cafe just across from the temple. It’s a good place to relax and have a drink. This impressive town is worth a day trip from Kathmandu to see the countryside and beautiful architecture (several hundred years old). Arrive early in the morning to see the sun rise over the mountains. It’s possible to go on a locally organized short trek (three hours or more). The region around Dhulikel offers good training for longer treks. 20 mi/30 km east of Kathmandu. This village is just a small collection of houses and guest houses – it barely exists. But its location, atop the mountains ringing the Kathmandu Valley, gives it a unique perspective. On clear mornings October-May, you can see Mt. Everest from Nagarkot. Though far off in the distance, the world’s highest peak is worth a peek – especially if you’re not getting any closer and want to go home saying you’ve seen Everest. (No guarantees issued – dawn is your best chance to spot the mountain, but if it’s a foggy morning, you’ll be out of luck.) 20 mi/30 km east of Kathmandu. En route to either Pokhara or Royal Chitwan National Park, you can opt for a stopover at the famed Manakamana Temple, home to the goddess Bagwati and a major Hindu pilgrimage site. Situated at an altitude of 4,200 ft/1,300 m, the temple itself is not especially impressive, but Bagwati’s ability to fulfill the wishes of her visitors makes this a popular destination. A cable car runs between Cheres, near the road to Pokhara, and Manakamana, making it possible to do the 3-hour trek in 15 minutes. The view from the cable cars is well worth the cost of the ticket. 75 mi/125 km northwest of Kathmandu. Pokhara is second biggest city of Nepal which is call Beautiful city of Nepal as well.Most tourists stay in Pokhara or environs for a day or two to relax along the lake, but the main reason to go there is that it’s the starting point for treks into the Himalaya – you can see the Annapurna range from town on a clear day. There’s not much in Pokhara itself. The resort area on Lake Phewa has better accommodations generally, although Pokhara has been undergoing a building boom, so visitors now have a wider selection of accommodations from which to choose. You can rent a rowboat and paddle out to a temple, located on one of the lake’s islands (birds are sometimes sacrificed before the altar there). Spelunkers might also enjoy an excursion to nearby Mahendra Cave, once believed to house Nidhini, a female demon who devours people and cattle. Pokhara is starting point of Annapurna Regions trekking accept Annapurna Circuit. If you’re not planning a long trek, a day trek can be made to Sarangkot, a small village about a two-hour walk into the mountains. The mountain panorama you get from Sarangkot is far superior to what you can see in town, and in the other direction there’s a fine view of the Lake Phewa resort area. Those who can tolerate some discomfort may want to stay in a villager’s home (the price is negotiable, but it’ll probably be less than you’ve ever paid for a room – a dinner of lentils and potatoes may even be included). You’ll likely sleep on a mat in a smoky loft. The night view of Lake Phewa is impressive, and sunrise showers the snowcapped mountains with exquisite color. 90 mi/145 km northwest of Kathmandu. Royal Chitwan National Park ImageThis major tourist area in the southern lowlands (called the Terai), is a world apart from the mountainous region – hot, humid and often quite lush. It’s home to tigers, leopard, rhinos, crocodiles, deer, boar, monkeys and more than 400 species of birds. Because it sits well outside the Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan is somewhat closer to the areas of rebel activity than the capital. Although the national park has not experienced any attacks, there have been some incidents of violence along the highway between Chitwan and Kathmandu. Travelers should check the latest safety information before booking a trip. Most visitors to the park stay at one of the Tiger Tops jungle lodges (in either the village setup or the tent camp). The lodges aren’t cheap, but they are usually comfortable and staffed with excellent naturalists. Elephant rides are offered, but your chances of a tiger sighting now rely chiefly on luck and the experience of your guide. (The practice of baiting parts of the park to attract tigers and leopard has been abolished.) White-water raft trips are also offered (ending up at Tiger Tops). A few similar, locally operated lodges at the other end of the park are slightly less expensive (and less sophisticated). They can be booked through a Kathmandu-based tour operator. (A good mid-range lodge is Machan, which offers jungle tours on elephant or by jeep. There is a Machan office on Durbar Marg in Kathmandu.) The village of Sauraha is the nearest populated area to Chitwan and is used by more adventurous travelers as a jumping-off point for self-planned tours of the wildlife park. The village can be reached from Kathmandu via a combination of public buses or by one of the private bus companies operating out of Kathmandu. (We prefer the Green Line.) Several small hotels are in the village. Those taking the public elephant rides into the jungle from there often see rhinos, but tiger sightings are rare – you’ll have much better luck at Tiger Tops. In Sauraha, beware of unauthorized guides offering to take you for jungle walks (on foot) – they are not always as knowledgeable as they claim to be, and not a few tourists have accidentally encountered angry rhinos (a very scary and sometimes deadly experience) by trusting the wrong people. Lumbini( Birth place of Lord Buddha) Lumbini is located in the south-central Terai of Nepal, situated in the foothills of the Himalayas. For millions of Buddhists the world over, it evokes a kind of holy sentiment akin to the significance of Jerusalem to Christians and Mecca to Muslims. Lumbini is the place where Lord Buddha – the apostle of peace, and the Light of Asia – was born in 623 B.C. In historical terms, the region is an exquisite treasure-trove of ancient ruins and antiquities, dating back to the pre-Christian era. The site (Lumbini Grove) was described as a beautiful garden in the Buddha’s time and still retains its legendary charm and beauty. Both the Shakyas and Kolias Clans owned the garden and its tranquil environs at the time of Lord Buddha’s birth. King Suddhodana, father of Buddha was of the Shakya Dynasty belonging to the Kshatriya or Warrior Caste. For centuries, Buddhists the world over knew that the general area of Lumbini was where the Lord was born. In the words of those famous Chinese pilgrims of antiquity, Huian Tsang and Faeihan, ‘Lumbini -where the Lord was born – is a piece of Heaven on Earth, where one could see the snowy mountains amidst a splendid garden, embedded with stupas and monasteries!’ However, the exact location remained uncertain and obscure until 1 December 1886 when a wandering German archaeologist Dr. Alois A. Fuhrer came across a stone pillar and ascertained beyond doubt it was indeed the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Since that day it has become a focal point for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Lumbini is the fourth largest tourist destination in Nepal. Nearly 20,000 tourists visit the area every year (Source: Nepal Tourism Board). Recently, UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site. It has great potential to grow as the major tourist destination in years to come
Cinch Home Services Review Cinch Home Services is the rebranded Cross Country Home Services and has over 40 years in the home warranty business. The company changed the name to reflect the hassle-free experience customers can expect. Cinch revamped its processes and added new technology to make home system and appliance repairs easier than ever. Whether you own a new home or you’ve lived in the same one for years, Cinch Home Services’ goal is to make appliance and system repairs simple and more affordable. The company offers three home warranties, making it easier to budget for unexpected breakdowns around the house. Cinch is also rolling out a service to allow consumers without a warranty to schedule fast appliance repairs with one of their technicians and potentially get their entire repair for free when they upgrade to a full-year home protection plan. Technicians typically arrive within two days, and same-day service is available. - 180-day workmanship guarantee - Sample contract on website - On-demand repair service for consumers without a home warranty - Choice of deductibles - Coverage caps on some items Cinch Home Services Warranties Cinch Home Services offers three repair contracts with several add-on options. The Appliances Plan covers washers, dryers and all major kitchen appliances. The Built-in Systems Plan includes your furnace, water heater, garbage disposal, plumbing, heating, cooling and built-in whirlpool tub. Buy the Complete Home Plan to get both coverages plus up to $500 reimbursement on your homeowners insurance deductible if you have to file a claim with your homeowners insurance. Most repairs have a $2,000 cap. Sample contracts on the website reveal that Cinch provides good coverage levels with some exclusions. These exclusions are relatively standard and include things like exterior pipes and free-standing freezers. Each Cinch home warranty features four components not provided in one package offered by competitors: - 180-day Workmanship Guarantee: If the repair doesn’t fix the problem, Cinch will ensure it gets corrected at no additional cost. - Unknown Pre-existing Conditions Coverage: Some home warranties don’t cover repairs required due to unknown pre-existing failures before you purchased the property. Cinch Home Services does not make this exclusion. - Rust and Corrosion Coverage: Often excluded from home warranties, Cinch pays for repairs required due to rusting and corrosion. - New Appliance Discounts: Want to upgrade your appliances? Cinch will help you buy a replacement for less. Cinch Home Services’ 180-day guarantee is exceptionally generous and covers both labor and parts. Customers can call 24/7 for assistance in filing a claim, or they can use the company’s online portal. Cinch’s Online Customer Portal Cinch Home Services provides a portal for customers to file a claim online and manage their home warranty plan. Cinch Home Services provides a mobile-friendly and secure online portal called “My Account” where you can easily file a claim and manage your warranty plan. Use this feature to download your plan documents, open a service request, see how existing orders are progressing and update contact and payment information. Cinch’s My Account services are available 24/7. \|Cinch Home Warranty Sample Monthly Costs $100 / $125 / $150 Deductibles \|Location\|\|Appliances Plan\|\|Built-in Systems Plan\|\|Complete Plan\| \|Milwaukee, WI\|\|$69.99 / $64.99 / $59.99\|\|$76.99 / $70.99 / $64.99\|\|$86.99 / $80.99 / $74.99\| \|Beverly Hills, CA\|\|$37.99 / $32.99 / $27.99\|\|$44.99 / $38.99 / $32.99\|\|$51.99 / $45.99 / $39.99\| \|Oklahoma City, OK\|\|$69.99 / $64.99 / $59.99\|\|$76.99 / $70.99 / $64.99\|\|$86.99 / $80.99 / $74.99\| \|Baltimore, MD\|\|$44.99 / $39.99 / $34.99\|\|$51.99 / $45.99 / $39.99\|\|$61.99 / $55.99 / $49.99\| Cinch Home Services Costs Your cost for a Cinch home warranty depends on your location, the plan you purchase and if you add any options. Per-service deductibles are $100, $125 and $150. Choose a higher deductible to reduce the cost of the home warranty. For example, with a $150 deductible, the basic plan (Appliance Plan) costs range from around $28 to about $66 per month, and the Complete Home plan ranges from about $40 to $85 per month. The optional monthly add-on service costs range from $2.50 for septic repairs to $13.33 for outdoor pool and/or spa (including heater) coverage. The Premier Upgrade Package is available for $10 per month. It helps pay for things like permits and code upgrades (up to $1,000, 2 claims per year) related to a covered repair. With Cinch’s 180-day guarantee, you won’t have to pay the deductible again if the initial covered repair doesn’t fix the issue. The maximum annual coverage payout is $10,000. How to Use Cinch Home Services On-Demand Cinch’s on-demand service is available online for appliance repairs. Click on “No Plan? Find a Pro” at the top of the website to access the on-demand scheduler. Click on “Book Now” and provide: - Your address and what you need to be fixed. - How soon you need the issue resolved. - Compare your options and select a company to service your appliance. You pay a service fee online at the time you schedule service. The payment is applied to the total charge for the repair. Same-day service is available for a higher cost. How to Buy a Cinch Home Services Warranty You can use the quote tool on the Cinch Home Services website to buy a home warranty, or you can call the company. To get an online quote, enter your ZIP code and select a plan. Choose any options you want to include in the warranty, and then you can purchase the agreement or save it for later. The quote tool provides prices for each plan and option so that you won’t be surprised by the cost at any point in the process. You will find the contract terms with each warranty and option to understand what repairs are covered. If you have any questions, call the number at the top of the quote tool. Cinch Home Services Complaints We found negative reviews for Cinch Home Services resulting from the company subcontracting with other home warranty companies like Sears. Identically worded poor reviews appear on multiple websites, indicating these reviews may not be genuine. Cinch Home Service also has hundreds of 5-star reviews that mention fast service and helpful customer service agents. ConsumerAffairs readers give Cinch Home Services 4.25 out of 5 stars. The company scores 3.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and gets an A- from the Better Business Bureau. The Balance likes how Cinch includes coverage for unknown pre-existing conditions. Cinch Home Services Q&A What if I change my mind about Cinch Home Services? Can I cancel my home warranty? If you don’t file a claim within 30 days of the date coverage starts, Cinch Home Services will fully refund your contract fees. If you made a claim in those 30 days and want to cancel, you will receive a partial refund or will pay for the repair minus the refund amount. Can I buy a Cinch Home Services warranty when I sell my house? Offering a home warranty can help sell your property faster since the buyer won’t need to be concerned with breakdowns for a year. Cinch Home Services provides a seller plan for as low as $50 to cover heating and air conditioning. More substantial plans are available with a comprehensive selection of optional coverages. Will Cinch Home Services issue a warranty package for a mobile home? Cinch home warranties cover single-family houses, condominiums, townhouses, villas or manufactured homes with a permanent foundation. The company does not cover mobile homes. What if I decide I want a home warranty while comparing Cinch on-demand quotes? Cinch Home Services gives you the option of upgrading on-demand service to a Cinch Home Protection plan as you schedule service. If you decide a home warranty will likely save you money, you can take advantage of the savings right away. How do I know what I’m buying online with a Cinch Home Services Warranty? Cinch gives you access to the contracts for each of the three home warranties and the add-on services. We always recommend reading contract terms carefully so you can determine if a home warranty is worth the cost for you. Many people benefit from these repair contracts, but the arrangement isn’t ideal for everyone. Cinch Home Services brings using a home warranty into the 21st century by integrating technology with generous home warranty terms. The company also offers an on-demand repair service for those who aren’t interested in buying a home warranty. Cinch Home Services provides all contract terms on their website and backs up claims with a 180-day workmanship guarantee.
Could the jocks and the nerds of the world unite? With the amount of technology that is popping up all over the world of professional sports, the answer seems to be a definite “yes”. The level of technology adoption by sports teams lags that of other larger industries, in part because the members of this sector are, head-count-wise, small businesses. IT nevertheless has the potential to give teams the critical competitive advantage they need to beat the competition. Sports may be a sexy market but it’s not a large one, so it’s not surprising that the major vendors haven’t been developing sports-specific applications. However, small players, consultants and the teams are driving innovation in areas like digital video editing, statistical analysis and analytics. Captain Video goes digital The late Roger Neilson pioneered the use of video to analyze game play in the National Hockey League in the early 1980s, earning him the nickname “Captain Video”. Neilson worked with videotape, but now many teams are taking advantage of the latest digital technology. Among them are the National Basketball Association’s (NBA’s) Toronto Raptors, and they’ve taken the added step of linking their digital video database with their scouting system to leverage the information even further. Sasha Puric, director of IT for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owner of Toronto’s Raptors, Maple Leafs and American Hockey League Marlies, says the Raptors have a team of scouts around the world tracking college players and other potential draft picks. Using a Raptors-developed Web portal and VPN, the scouts file reports electronically. The reports can be combined with video on the player to provide a more complete picture for Raptors management on draft day. The same systems are also used to scout opposing teams and evaluate the Raptors’ own play. “We’ve married the scouting database with the video breakdowns so we can have a comprehensive 360-degree view of a player,” says Puric. The Raps’ video editing system lets coaches analyze each game down to the details, breaking the match down by possession, shots or a myriad of other stats at the click of a mouse. Each game is captured digitally, and during play Puric’s team does basic breakdowns, such as offensive and defensive possessions, timeouts and other critical elements. “At the end of the game we can generate a video file that allows our defensive assistant coach, for example, to look at all the defensive plays and mark certain spots that could be shown to the players at the next morning’s practice,” says Puric. “Video is a lot bigger now in the league than it has been in the past.” The digital revolution is also beginning to make its way into the Canadian Football League. Most CFL franchises are more akin to small businesses than large corporations, but the Toronto Argonauts are out front, capturing all of their 2005 home games digitally. Argos video coordinator Kevin Rita says each contest is shot digitally from two angles, one from the sideline and one from the end zone. The two angles are later merged so both can be viewed at once, and digital bookmarks are added to let users pull certain plays from the database, such as every first down. “I do a lot of DVDs for the players to take home and watch,” says Rita. “Every week the coaches have prep games they want the players to see.” The team’s setup includes a 2.4 TB server with three 500 GB portable drives as backups. Connected to the database are two video editing computers with high-end video cards, as well as two stand-alone boxes linked to the server for coaches to view plays. “I’m pretty happy with the system. It’s one of the best, if not the best, in the league and it’s made life a lot smoother for [the coaches],” says Rita. The coaching staff can’t remotely access the server, but when they hit the road they take along small projectors and portable DVD players to watch footage, and can also download games from the server to their laptops. The system isn’t completely digital because each team only shoots their home games and shares the footage with opponents, and only the Argos are shooting digital at the moment. It may take some time for the rest of the league to catch up, but Rita says going digital has already made a real difference for the Argos. “A lot more film is being watched, and the quality of the film is 70 per cent better than what we had before,” says Rita. “That means clarity of numbers, looking at guys’ footsteps, how they do things.” Crunching the numbers The CFL is also catching up in other areas of IT, in part through a technology partnership with Sun Microsystems of Canada that sees the Markham, Ont.-based vendor supply the league with a bundle of hardware, software and services. Sun Canada marketing director Shirley Horvat says the showcase of the relationship is a new system for the real-time collection and availability of game statistics to coaches, players, the media and fans. Each team used to gather statistics differently, from spreadsheet applications on a laptop to old-fashioned pen and paper. It was time-consuming, and in many cases, Horvat says, coaches wouldn’t get the statistics from the previous game until the eve of their next match. “Providing the coaches with the data about the teams they’re about to play sooner gives them the opportunity to devise their strategy in a much better way,” says Horvat. Today, at each CFL game league volunteers armed with laptops running the Sun-developed application collect statistics as they happen on the field. Data can be generated as XML to support third-party applications like fantasy football engines, and can also be leveraged by teams directly into their own statistical analysis apps. “Data mining opportunities exist to your heart’s content after that,” says Horvat. “Different coaches will likely approach it in different ways.” Red Sox hit IT home run Many technology applications in sports are similar to non-sports implementations. For three months every year, Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox relocates its entire organization to Fort Myers, Fla. for spring training, and director of IT Steve Conley says the team turned to technology from Avaya to make the transition more seamless. Previously, Conley says, the team had to maintain two separate phone systems, and staff had to learn a new phone number and voicemail system while in Fort Myers. Now, he says the Avaya IP-based system allows four-digit dialing between Fort Myers and Boston, and when staff move down to Florida, their extension follows them, along with their access to the database and other backend systems. “You could be in Boston, Fort Myers or the Dominican Republic and it doesn’t matter; you get the same access to all your systems,” says Conley. The goal of the Red Sox IT team is to give the baseball operations side access to whatever data, applications and systems it needs, from video and analytics to statistics — anything that might give the team a competitive advantage in deciding what player to draft, what free agents to sign, or whether to pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade. “We give these guys access to whatever data they need,” says Conley. “Any system that would give these guys access to a new way to look at data, they want to see it.” The Red Sox finally beat the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 by winning its first World Series Championship since 1918, and IT was one of the unsung heroes of the victory. The Sox is one of the growing numbers of teams in Major League Baseball using Sabremetrics, a system for the mathematical analysis of player performance. Baseball is arguably the most statistic-heavy of the major pro sports, so it’s natural to feed those stats into a software application and crunch the numbers. The concept was pioneered by Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and popularized in his book Moneyball, and Conley says it is catching on as more teams see the advantages. “One of the old adages is, there’s no real secrets in baseball,” says Conley. “That’s why we’re always looking for a new way to do something. It’s a constant challenge.” It’s still a game Data analysis is still a new concept in the sports world, but Jay Coleman says it’s catching on. An operations management professor with the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Coleman and Allen Lynch, an economics professor at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., used statistical analysis models and software from SAS Institute to build a program that can predict the dance card for the NCAA college basketball championship tournament with 94 per cent accuracy, and the winners with 75 per cent accuracy. Coleman’s project was a way to combine his profession of data analysis with his love of college basketball, but with the success of Moneyball he says the role for such tools in the sports world is becoming better defined. He says some NBA teams are even using data analysis to help decide lineup combinations, to look at which players tend to play better with each other, and to see which players are truly better at winning games, as opposed to building up personal stats. “I think what you’re going to find is more of that type of thing in professional sports,” says Coleman. “Scouting, assessing draft picks, assessing free agents…there’s potentially a world of work that could still be done there.” In the end, however, it remains a game, and one that must be won on the field, the ice or the court. Raptors general manager Rob Babcock says their video editing and scouting system has allowed them to be a lot more creative and has saved a lot of time preparing for games. However, in the end, like all technology, it’s just a tool, he says. “To be honest with you, a great deal of the (technologies available) are overkill. You can gather statistics and do a ton of things, but there’s only so much you can do,” says Babcock. “It’s still basketball, you’ve still got to get out on the court and play it.”
This is one of my all time favorite books…Ok I’m going to take the leap and say it IS MY #1ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK. So to review it sufficiently will require a little of my personal history, biographical info about the author, and some interpretation and analysis. It will be just like high school English class all over again! (Get Excited! Get Get Excited! I say G-E-T..Sorry little high school flashback there.) But the book is just that great! (Side note – I highly recommend the original English translation. The newer translations just lose some of the beauty and poetry of the language.) It’s not easy to give a summary of The Little Prince. It’s one thing to tell what happens and another to explain what it is about. I can summarize the happenings by the end of this paragraph. It will take pages to attempt to express what it means to me. The story is told by a pilot who crashes in the Sahara desert, cut off from all civilization. As he is trying to fix his plane he hears a little voice request, “Draw me a sheep.” That is how he meets the golden-haired “Little Prince” who came to Earth with a flock of birds from his small planet. Over time the pilot learns of the other planets the Little Prince visited and more of the Prince’s own precious planet, and of the vain little flower that prompted him to leave it. In the process the pilot is reminded of what is essential for happiness. Growing up I had a fascination with all things French and this book is just so FRENCH. My dad lived in France and Switzerland for 2 ½ years as a missionary so he spoke French fluently and introduced us to French foods and culture. He read to us Asterix and Obelix, Petit Nicolas, and of course The Little Prince. As a 9 year old I thought the grownups and their quirks were funny, and I found it refreshing to finally have someone give us kids a little credit for knowing important things too, to have someone finally understand how “tiresome [it is] for children to be always and forever explaining things to [the grownups].” The idea of the Little Prince on his quaint little planet, barely bigger than a house, with volcanos to clean out (both the active and extinct since “one never knows…”) was as magical to me as any fairy tale. I fell in love the Little Prince, with his independent spirit and his desire to have friends and to care for them. I felt sad for him, being betrayed by his flower and having to leave her, then to have to leave the fox, and finally the pilot, but I respected his selflessness. I worried about those pesky Baobab roots, and I wanted to hold and hug the Little Prince to keep him away from the bite of the golden snake. But then I believed he made it back to his star so it was a happy ending after all. The next time I read the book was for French class so I read it in it’s original French and I loved it even more, probably because the syntax in French is so much more poetic and beautiful but also because I was older and was able to pick out the deeper meaning. Also I learned more about the author in class and knowing his story definitely gives the book more impact. Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a pilot and loved it. He flew in war and in times of peace and received many awards and recognitions for it. He wrote the The Little Prince while in New York trying to convince the US to join WWII; the dedication in the book makes a lot of sense when you realize he was worried about his friends in France who were suffering the deprivations of war. When I found out Saint-Exupery actually crashed in the Sahara desert during a flight it gave me a new perspective on The Little Prince; he truly knew what being stranded in the desert heat without water or help in sight was like, and yet he chose to write about it with the wit, tenderness, and innocence of a child’s perspective rather than the drama, suspense, and worry of an adult. I like his outlook on life. The most interesting fact of all about the author is that he mysteriously disappeared over the Mediterranean, much like The Little Prince’s body disappearing from the desert sand. If you want to know more about Antoine de Saint-Exupery go here. I have now read The Little Prince in French and English countless times and each time I am filled with a range of emotions; I laugh, I cry, I ponder. The book is often categorized as a fable or parable because the funny and tender anecdotes actually reveal the foibles and follies of humanity, as well as our strengths and purpose for living. Jesus Christ in the New Testament counseled to become as a little child, and this book advises the same. Keep the hope and faith that allows children to be fascinated by the world and to find joy in the smallest things, like shapes in the clouds or the comfort of a loved toy. Keep the ability to love, forgive, and befriend that comes to children so naturally. Spend time on the things that matter; look outside yourself, be brave and seek to understand and experience all the beauties this world has to offer, work hard to contribute to world around you, and develop relationships built on trust and sacrifice. It is so much more fun and so much more powerful to learn these truths as you follow the Little Prince’s journey, so if you haven’t read it before, do. Do it now! You will make a lifelong friend and “You – you alone will have the stars as no one else has them…In one of the stars [the Little Prince] shall be living. In one of them [he] shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night…You – only you – will have stars that can laugh.” (You can find more of my favorite quotes from the book below.) Age Recommendation: It is written as a children’s book with whimsical illustration so children will enjoy it. Probably 8 and older. But the true meaning of the story is for adults. The book dedication reminds us that “All grownups were once children though few of them remember it.” So I would say this book is for children and for the grownups who remember. Appropriateness and Themes: Nothing to worry about here; the book content is clean and innocent as can be, but provides so much discussion material. This is a fantastic choice for book club, family read aloud, literature classes, and just for fun. Here is a list of discussion questions: - What makes a career/hobby/pastime valuable? to yourself? to others? - What does it mean to “tame” someone/something? Who/what has tamed you? Who/what have you tamed? How did you do it? - What are the essential things that are invisible to the eye? - How do adults lose the ability to see the elephant in the boa constrictor or the sheep in the box? - What baobab roots do you deal with in your life? What do you do on a daily basis to pull them up before they become a huge tree and take over? - What experiences in your life have been as rewarding as the drink from the desert well for the pilot and The Little Prince? - What reminders to you have in your life like the singing of the well and the stars serve as a reminder for the pilot? - The Little Prince says, “Only the children know what they are looking for. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; And if anybody takes it away from them they cry.” “They are lucky,” the switchman said. What do children teach us about connecting to people and things? What are they looking for that the adults lose sight of? What distracts the grownups from looking out the window as the train/life goes by? How do we get that knowledge and skill back? “I am looking for friends. What does that mean — tame?” “It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.” “To establish ties?”“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….” “People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. “But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.” “When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.” “People where you live,” the little prince said, “grow five thousand roses in one garden… yet they don’t find what they’re looking for…” “They don’t find it,” I answered. “And yet what they’re looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water…” Of course,” I answered. And the little prince added, “But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.” “It is such a mysterious place, the land of tears.” “I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve. “Children,” I say plainly, “watch out for the baobabs!” “On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.” “I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.” “I myself own a flower…which I water everyday. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week…It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars.” “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me…” “It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.” “Why are you drinking? demanded the little prince. “So that I may forget,” replied the tippler. “Forget what?” inquired the little prince, who was already sorry for him. “Forget that I am ashamed,” the tippler confessed, hanging his head. “Ashamed of what?” insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.“Ashamed of drinking!” “That man [the lamplighter] would be scorned by all the others…Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.” “The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists.” “One never know where to find [the men]. The wind blows them away. They have not roots, and that makes their life very difficult.” – said by a flower “What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…”
Puzzle & Dragons (PAD) developer, GungHo Online Entertainment, has been on a blitz securing a ton of crossovers with various mobile games as a way of celebrating the 4th anniversary of their flagship title. Well, at least that’s the case in Japan. I don’t keep up with the English release other than logging in daily for gold, Magic Stones, and whatever goodies happen to be that day’s reward so I’m not sure how much of a brouhaha the American division is having. Mobius Final Fantasy is among the many games that’s a part of the collaboration bonanza and the PAD universe has been included into the game by means of the usual special maps and gacha. Both offer unique event-only cards available only until April 30th (Japan Time) or for a set duration. (Event gachas may or may not last the same amount of time as the event itself. Always refer to in-game notices, the official site or Twitter, or the card summon section for exact dates of availability.) I can’t explain the plot since I didn’t try to read the dialogue but I’ll talk about mechanics of the PAD maps and battling Zeus (not the multiplayer version). Edit on July 31st: Added some more skills and the kanji for the elements (which is useful when you’re looking at the skill descriptions. ^^). I also forgot to write about the vocabulary at the end of the descriptions which influence how often the special ability piece will appear on the board so they’ve been included too. ———— I’m not going to introduce Puzzle & Dragons again since I’ve already written about it over 2 years ago so this is written with the assumption that the reader is familiar with its rules and gameplay mechanics. :3 (There are more accurate and thorough resources on the Internet but that post should give you an idea of the game. The only thing I didn’t elaborate on was the fact that you can move your puzzle piece all around the board until the timer runs out because I didn’t know at the time. ^^) Puzzle & Dragons W is a cutesy version of the main P&D game featuring the ever-adorable tamadras (or egg dragons) and pretty much plays exactly the same way as its companion game. The main gameplay difference is that each stage has an objective that must be met, along with combo strings, in order to defeat the devil tamadras that hold tamadra eggs hostage. One thing that’s unique to P&DW is the dress up system which allows you to customize your tamadra with various hats, items/toys, and egg shells! ^o^~ There are ample opportunities to gain new looks for your little avatar since the very eggs the enemies hold always contain either a piece of clothing or equipment. There are also the usual gacha lottery draws too~! As this P&D update has yet to hit the English version, playing Puzzle & Dragons W may prove to be a challenge for anyone illiterate to Japanese. Although I’m not fluent in the language, I know enough to understand what needs to be done and what the equipment skills do so I decided to whip up this mini guide! Seriously, developers need to learn that not everyone with root goes around cheating in games. I mean, the iOS one runs fine with jailbreak mainly cuz it’s impossible to cheat their IAP system. I suppose GungHo has yet to figure out how to do that with the Play Store? Anyway, I hope they’ll ditch the dumbass anti-root scheme and maybe then, I’ll figure out if it’s my Galaxy Tab 10.1 or root that’s preventing the game from running. I use OTA RootKeeper to temporarily “un-root” my Tab but it still does the black screen thing. :V Original post from September 18th [Japanese version]: I don’t see it at the Play Store just yet but Gung Ho’s saying it’s out. ^^ (Edit: Oh, I think it won’t be available until later today. Something about 4 PM Japan Time? D:) 8 days of gifts and perks~! http://mobile.gungho.jp/news/pad/and_cp.html Edit: While the Galaxy Tab 10.1 isn’t listed as a supported device, I’m going to see if it’s possible to download it for the tablet. I honestly feel that the game is a lot more fun during the beginning when money and monster experience isn’t much of an issue so I’m going to play the ‘Droid one for a bit (if I can). This is meant as a simple overview of the game. It’s missing some information since I’m not all that familiar with it. I also don’t plan on figuring things out myself since I’m not interested in keeping with it. However, if you can fill in some of the missing info, feel free to comment on this post~! The puzzle mechanic in the game’s a little different than Puzzle & Dragons’ and seems to require a bit more strategy. Well, it does to me since I completely blew past the screen that taught me how to conserve Soul when I move so every time I play, I always run out. XD Sadly, I can’t seem to find any tutorial/manual section under Option so I think the only way to see it again is to reinstall the game and start as a new user. Anyway, Road to Dragons pretty much starts off the same way as P&D where you choose a character that has a specific elemental affinity. The game then assigns two more additional units to help you along. And like P&D, most units have some sort of Skill as well as a Leader Skill which can only be activated if they are in the Leader position in the party formation. The first dungeon is a tutorial dungeon where the silly looking dragon mascot will walk you through the basics. I didn’t get any screencaps of any of this since I wasn’t planning on writing a tutorial of sorts considering I’m still a little confused about the game myself. Famitsu wrote up a short guides to it at http://app.famitsu.com/20121107_106889/ and http://app.famitsu.com/20121108_107352/ but I’ve yet to go through them. I know the second link doesn’t really help so I think the first one is where the movement and gameplay information is at. Each stage requires a certain amount of Stamina which will recover over time. You can also opt to instantly replenish it with the premium currency known as Rainbow Crystal (虹色水晶). There’s a number underneath Stamina which shows how many squares are needed to get to the Goal or something? I haven’t bothered to look up the kanji. Oh yeah, the screencap above is of an Event Dungeon which are essentially limited time dungeons which are only available for a certain amount of days or hours. When selecting a stage to play, you can also choose a random stranger and have them accompany you. After you journey with them, you can choose to send off a friend request. All this is taken from Puzzle & Dragons. :3 It seems like the point in each stage is to get to Goal as quickly as you can without losing Soul by dictating where to move on the grid. This is done by selecting one of the predetermined paths shown at the bottom of the gameplay area. Each movement will cost you 1 Soul point … unless you know how to move without losing any. The grid itself has monsters, chests, and elemental squares littered throughout and landing on a square with a creature throws you into a battle where you trace out a route for your attacks. The game will tell you how much Soul you will consume based on the path you drew out; attacks aren’t executed until you lift your finger from the screen so you can preview the outcome. What’s cool is that you can also preview the amount of damage you will deal to your enemy. (Landing on squares with treasure chests will simply get you whatever’s inside them.) Having Soul in battle is important since you can combine different attacks and trace out a long chain of them too. Notice the health bar under the monster and the Preview indicator. It’s showing that my selected path will kill it off in one shot. 😀 After you reach the goal line, you will face a boss monster and fight it in the same manner as you do with regular enemies. Should you run out of Soul before reaching the end of the stage, a Grim Reaper-type monster will appear and attack you. I died in the confrontation so I have no idea what happens if you manage to defeat it. XD Having no Soul left also severely limits you in the paths you can select since it restricts you to choosing only those of the same type. Overall, the package looks A LOT like Puzzle & Dragons since just about every menu and their functions are the same. I admit that some of these are staples in the freemium RPG world such as fusing units to create stronger ones and having gacha elements where you can pick out random units and such but the layouts and what you perform in them are really carbon copies! Heck, Acquire even thanks GungHo in their Thank You list. One thing I noticed that was different was that you can expand your Friends List with Rainbow Crystals. Gungho Online Entertainment America has finally brought over Puzzle & Dragons to Western shores! I’m not sure I’m going to be getting it since I’m hardly playing the Japanese version as it is. ^^ Got up to level 40 in it too and managed to save up to 63 Magic Stones — all which were gifts from GungHo during promotions and celebrations. I just lost interest after a while since I’m stuck with grinding for money to level up and fuse my monsters. I also needed some of those fusion material monsters that are needed to evolve them … which are probably rare drops from higher difficulty dungeons. Sigh. Anyway, I encourage iOS users to try it out! It’s much more cute and colourful than its blatant clone, Angel Salvation. LOTS more variety in units too. And, as I mentioned in that post, as long as GungHo is active in supporting the game and dishing out Magic Stones to everyone once in a while, I’m sure players will remain with it. The Japan version gets a lot of cross-promotions with other companies too. (And there’s merchandise like little toys and cellphone straps and stuff! TT~) Not sure they’ll do it for the NA version though. Oh yeah, it doesn’t look like there’s an English Android version just yet which is good, I suppose, since they still need to broaden device support for it, in my opinion. (It STILL doesn’t run on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 with CyanogenMod 10.) Yeah, I see you folks coming to this blog in search of some info on getting FREE Magic Stones. Well, I’m sorry to break to you but unless GungHo’s giving them out themselves, you won’t be able to get any. They DO hand out Magic Stones now and then and have been fairly recently due to all the milestone celebrations. In fact, the “Android release” campaign is still going on so they’ll be giving out 1 Magic Stone per day until October 1st (Japan Time). Anyway, don’t even think that using IAP Cracker or anything similar, or even begging hackers to magically work-around the server-side system because it won’t work. Incidentally, for you Android users, GungHo’s updated their list of supported devices: http://mobile.gungho.jp/news/pad/and_taiou.html Keep that page bookmarked since I think they’ll be continually adding to it. (Actually, since they list the phone network providers, I’m not sure the game works outside of them?) So. Much. Grinding. But the game is pretty fun since I love these matching tiles games. Currently at Adventurer or whatever rank. Having a hell of a time trying to move beyond that since I can’t complete most of the quests/missions or whatever. ^^ I think this is honestly one of my fave iOS games of the year so far. Haven’t played this in ages but decided to pick it up again since I always found that it was a pain to keep up the stock on recovery items and mastering tablets was insanely annoying due to the low amounts of TP given by enemies. It follows the old RPG staple of grinding but I found a way to get around that. Muhuhu. I’m still fighting every enemy I encounter. Hell, I deliberately run into them sometimes but I no longer do it for money or TP which makes the game more fun for me~! A.k.a. 星葬ドラグニル The only thing that’s interesting about this is the battle system — It has you controlling a dragon and the actions you take in battle are determined by where you move the reins/chains that are found at the bottom of the screen. (You slide them left or right.) There’s a command bar thing (never did bother checking on its actual name XD) at the top and a little arrow that indicates what action will occur. If the arrow ends up in the red zone on the right-most side of the command bar thing , you lose control of the dragon and it turns on you. 😦 Other than that, reviews state that it’s a pretty standard RPG fare … except for the freemium aspect. The Prologue/1st chapter is free but subsequent chapters require in-app purchases. You can also obtain all chapters for the wonderful price of 1800 yen. (I’m being sarcastic about the wonderful. It’s Square Enix, after all. :E) There’s also some items you can purchase that help battles in some way or something. Of course, being a Kairosoft fan, I wouldn’t miss the release of the localized version of 星になったｶｲﾛくん. :3 It’s one of my fave Kairosoft games after all (even though it IS a bit repetitive and shallow for a Kairosoft game). I’m putt-putting along in it since I’m trying to find unlock conditions for missions. I’ve actually been slacking with it since I’ve been playing the games above. ^^ Check out AdeptGamer for a quick primer and link to the data lists~! Not really spending any time with this but I’m mentioning it because there’s currently a Taiko no Tatsujin promotion going on! ^O^ There’s a special Taiko dungeon~! You can even get Taiko-based monsters. ^o^! It’ll be on for the next 12 days. I’ll probably play a little. I actually maxed out a monster and I’m ready to evolve it but I’m missing one fusion monster. :V Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] I should get around to completing this soon since The Last Story will be on the way. Maybe. Assuming it doesn’t get bumped again. Nintendo Canada tried to tell me that it’s out in a newsletter but Amazon shows that it won’t be released until the 21st. 😛 Anyway, I’m still putt-putting around in The Grid (Riku side). The Tron world from KH2 rubbed me the wrong way so I’m not having much fun in this one right now. .___. I kind of wish Riku’s link with the Dream Eaters didn’t result in Birth by Sleep command styles only. I like Sora’s more. I’m kind of wishing that people happened on my blog post about the game earlier in the year since I’m somewhat losing interest in playing. XD I’m kind of at dead end right now as my newest dungeon (top one in the screenshot below) is a killer and very difficult to complete without using up Magic Stones to continue. It’s usually not the regular enemies that do me in; it’s the damn boss monster. I think the last few were able to 2-hit my party. I suppose I wouldn’t have so many problems if I could strategize and see + set up patterns beforehand. Oh well, I always did kind of suck at puzzle games. ^^~ Anyway, the point of this post is, well, just for the screencap since I’ve NEVER seen GungHo hold specials for every single normal dungeon before. This particular one is for 1.5x the normal drop rate and it lasts for 4 days. I’m guessing it started yesterday? At any rate, I’m going to play a little today to get some money and monsters. Whee~! For those that are braving this, be prepared for some boring prose! (I am incapable of creative writing.) Those 3 critters may be cute and happy but they are totally out to murder your little band of monsters. I downloaded this semi-social, cute puzzle/monster collecting freemium game on a whim after purchasing Epic Astro Story from the Japanese App Store. Unfortunately, I don’t believe the game is available outside of Japan. Developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment, it’s a dungeon crawler kind of like those old school, first person turn-based RPGs. In Puzzle & Dragons, you “control” a party of 5 monsters. Well, there’s six in the screenshot above since you can always bring a guest along with you! These monster guests are courtesy of other players but I’ll get more into that a bit later. Puzzle & Dragons is super simple to figure out! Just match up rows or columns of the same type of coloured orbs/elements based on fire, water, air, light, and darkness. The minimum is 3 but if you manage a group of 5+ elements, it will invoke an area attack where you will hit all enemies on the screen. Of course, this is all dependent on whether or not your party contains monsters of the same elements as those orbs you match up. Although this whole matching colours business is quite old by now, Puzzle & Dragons differs in that it’s turn-based, and within your turn, you can move any one orb anywhere in the puzzle grid. This allows you to set up combos to deal massive damage. However, selecting a puzzle piece triggers a countdown which limits the amount of time you have to figure out where to move it. On top of that, there’s a number on top of an enemy’s head that indicates the number of turns you have before it attacks so you have to think fast. While grouping trios of the elements is all fine and dandy, you won’t get very far that way. To effectively get through a dungeon, you will need to strategize and create combos. Combos are basically multiple groups of 3 or more elements that are achieved within your turn. The main advantage is the increase in damage output and also the bonus effect of replenishing a greater amount of health if the combo includes a string of 3 or more Hearts. Aside from the puzzle aspect, there’s also monster raising and monster fusion. Both will be covered in a later section but for now, let’s look at that thing about the game being a free and premium title. :3 As Puzzle & Dragons is a freemium game, it contains in-app purchases as well as a restriction of how much time you can spend playing. The restriction in this case is known as Stamina. But wait!! Don’t stop reading yet! It’s not as bad as you think! You expend Stamina every time you enter a dungeon. I believe the minimum begins at 3 points. Now, unlike other freemium games with a similar wait and play gimmick, Puzzle & Dragons is more reasonable in that 1 point of Stamina is replenished every 10 minutes so you’re not waiting half an hour or however many hours like usual. But, now that I think about it, the wait may get pretty bad when the Stamina gauge gets over 50. (I’m not entirely sure how Stamina increases. I thought it was through levelling up in rank but it’s not.) If you’re impatient, you can always use Magic Stones to restore your Stamina gauge to maximum. Of course, free Magic Stones are conveniently difficult to come by in-game. In fact, the Shop icon is a subtle reminder that you can always purchase more! The elemental dungeons~! Dungeons are categorized as Normal Dungeon or Special Dungeon. The main differences between the two types are dungeon length, stamina cost, and enemy levels/strength. Normal Dungeons have less stages that require low stamina to enter. They also contain more or less managable opponents. Special Dungeons are the exact opposite. Actually, Special Dungeons are only available for a certain amount of days and are a good source for money (and probably rare monsters). Both dungeon types have stages that vary in length and number of enemies, but the final stage always contains a boss battle where you can either fight one beefy monster or take on several beefy monsters at once. If I remember correctly, the screencap at the top is a boss fight within one of the special dungeons. There’s no real objective in the game, I don’t think. All you do is go around beating up other monsters and collect gold and eggs. These eggs are hatched upon completion of a dungeon stage and you will either get a regular monster (which come from a polka-dotted egg) or a rare monster (which pop up out a striped egg). Oh yeah, completing dungeons nets you experience too! When your EXP bar is full, you will level up in rank and your Stamina gauge will replenish. You also unlock the feature to gift friends once you reach rank 20. There are probably other features that are dependent on rank that I’m not sure about though. .___. It’s not a Pokedex! Currently, there are 200 collectible monsters but I’m not sure if they can all be captured since the ones in the compedium seem to be either the ones you own or the enemy monsters. For some reason, ally monsters from other users don’t show up. Most monsters have special active or passive skills that can be used in battle if the conditions are met. The conditions I’ve seen so far only call for a fixed number of turns. In terms of active abilities, they can be buffs, debuffs, restoration of the team’s health bar, or some sort of attack. Passive skills can consist actions like of counterattacking when hit or restoring a small amount of HP per user turn. There are also monsters that have a Leader Skill which obviously only become available when placed in Leader slot. I’m uncertain of this but I think the party member you assign as a Leader becomes the guest character that other players can take with them into their fights. You are free to configure your party in any way by choosing from the available monsters in your inventory. While variety is a good idea, adding several of the same elemental type will increase their attack power. The only catch when outfitting the team is that their combined cost — in the right image above, each monster’s value is indicated below their level — cannot exceed the allotted team cost. Using the screenshot on the right, you can see that my limit is 26 but I’ve only used up 22. As mentioned in the previous section, you can acquire monster eggs while travelling through dungeons. As you are only allowed to have 20 creatures in inventory, you can choose to keep them, sell them, or fuse them with active or inactive party members. (You can increase the amount of inventory slots you have at the store though.) Fusing monsters is the only way to level them up or evolve them. The latter requires them to be at their maximum level where you can then synthesize them with other maxed out monsters. The resulting monster will be one of higher grade. I’m not sure any fusion can fail but given the rarity of some of the “ingredients”, as well as the cost of the whole process, I don’t believe it’s possible. Monster grades are indicated as stars on their profile cards. One star is the lowest possible grade and usually max out at level 10. As the stars increase, the maximum level also rises. As I’m early in the game, I don’t know what the highest grade would be but I’m guessing it’s 4 or 5 stars. I don’t them and they don’t know me but we’re friends! I opened this overview by stating that Puzzle & Dragons is a semi-social game. By this, I meant that part of the gameplay gimmick is that you can obtain Friendship Points (FP) from opting to take someone else’s monsters out with your group. Er, incidentally, the games labels the name of these points in Japanese which is 友情ポイント. Everyone starts off as strangers and it will remain so unless you actually go out of your way to become acquainted with them through the game’s messaging and gifting system. You only gain 5 FP from an outting from strangers. However, once they become “friends”, you will get the obtain 10 FP. Unfortunately, all these Friendship Points, whether they’re from strangers or friends, can only be received once by day. I never did check if you can simply go through dungeons without bringing along an ally but since there’s no disadvantage that I can think of in doing so, I always do. And because of this, I’ve racked up a ton of points that can be used in the Gacha menu! ^o^ In the menu, you can choose to use the Friendship gachapon machine or the Rare one. If it’s the former, you will need 200 FP to use it. For the latter, 5 Magic Stones are required. With either one, there’s a little gachapon machine in the form of a dragon that pops up a random egg from its tummy when you pull on its arm. ^^; No picture here. XD If you read or skimmed through all of this, I hope that I’ve somewhat piqued your interest in the game. I find it quite fun despite the whole Stamina gimmick that limits how much you can play in one sitting as well as the small frustration that it costs a lot to level up monsters as they evolve. But hey, that’s what the in-game shop is for, right? >_> Oh, I forgot to mention, since this is a free title from the Japanese App Store, you can create an iTunes Japan account to download it to try it it out for yourself! You don’t need to enter any credit card information at all~!
A cave-like room with electric red walls and blue light fixtures is the new home to the $100 million podcast of new Austin resident Joe Rogan. And who would Rogan trust to construct this room? None other than his fellow Austinites. Rogan, a mixed martial arts enthusiast and comedian, entrusted two local businesses—Sound Shed Studios and Wrightsmith Studios—to construct his new podcast studio after recently moving to Austin from Los Angeles. In just under three weeks, the two Austin companies scrambled to complete the project of their most high-profile client yet. Timeline of Joe Rogan moving to Texas: Sound Shed Studios, a local audio and visual business, was a side project Matthew Alvarez started 10 years ago, transforming a storage unit into a recording studio. Getting laid off from his full-time audio engineering job due to the pandemic and seeing the outcome of the Rogan studio, Alvarez has since decided to run Sound Shed Studios full time. Alvarez began working with Rogan after getting a call from an old friend he had done some work for who said he wanted Alavarez to meet the person who had hired him for private security—Rogan. Alvarez met Rogan the next day, and the two had a thorough discussion about the studio design. In an interview with Austonia, Alvarez said when he saw the room, he knew he had to make some major changes for it to be podcast ready, and when he told Rogan, Rogan responded with, "Hey, I trust you, I like you, build this out as if it were your own studio." Alvarez, who usually works alone, gathered some friends—Jacob Rangel, Nate Laningham, Richard Castro, Nick Fette, Justin Contreras and Christopher Spikes—to jump on the project with him on a tight two-and-a-half-week deadline. Together, they sound proofed the inner walls with open core polyurethane foam, adding double doors and treating the finished room with sound dampening panels. Rogan gave Alvarez the creative freedom—and budget—to make a stunning studio with input mostly on the color scheme. At the completion of Sound Shed's part of the studio creation, Alvarez said he sent Rogan a photo of the studio, to which Rogan replied, "Fucking sick." But it wasn't until Rogan saw it in person that Alvarez received the validation that the project was a success. "He didn't really say much. I could tell that he was really absorbing everything, and he gave me a knuckle bump and [said], 'Matt, you killed it.' To hear that from him in person … I knew that we had something to be proud of," Alvarez said. And what's a podcast room without the right table? For that, Rogan brought in a recommendation from another famous podcaster in Austin, Adam Curry—the first guest on Rogan's Austin podcast. Drew Teague, founder of Wrightsmith Studios, is a friend of Curry's and was in the process of designing a podcast table for him when he was asked to put that project on hold by Curry to complete Rogan's Austin studio table. While Wrightsmith Studios is only officially about a year old, Teague has had lots of experience building and fabricating unique furniture pieces, especially for studios. After speaking with Rogan on what he wanted, Teague came up with a design. Usually clients will request tweaks to the design Teague said, but at first glance, Rogan said, "That's the one, build it." On the same schedule as Sound Shed Studios, Teague also brought in outside help to complete the project on time, as he usually works all on his own. Teague and his team made a 500 pound white oak discussion table with a specific frame for enough leg room for podcast guests. When Rogan saw the table for the first time in person, he reached out to Teague and told him how much he loved it. "[Rogan] is outstanding in every way," Teague said. "From the first meeting, he was friendly and down to earth; he was very encouraging." When Rogan posted the almost-complete podcast room to Instagram, tagging both Sound Shed and Wrightsmith studios, the two accounts were all of a sudden in the public eye. Both accounts gained over a thousand new followers with direct messages asking questions about the studio and requests for their work. Rogan is up and rolling in the new studio, and the two businesses behind it know their work payed off. He could literally have anybody come in to [complete the studio] from anywhere, but he decided to find local guys who were already doing it in town at relatively small businesses," Teague said. "It says a lot about Joe's character." Want to read more stories like this one? Start every day with a quick look at what's happening in Austin. Sign up for Austonia.com's free daily morning email. - Joe Rogan posts podcast studio as he makes move to Austin ... › - UPDATED 8/9 Joe Rogan moving to Austin, Texas next month says ... › - EXCLUSIVE: Joe Rogan teases new Texas podcast studio; locals ... › - Could a presidential debate be led by Joe Rogan in Austin? - austonia › - Joe Rogan's new home is a $14 million mansion on Lake Austin - austonia › - 'Iconoclast' Joe Rogan is in Austin, political views hard to define - austonia › - Joe Rogan cancels podcast episodes this week, including possible Kanye West interview - austonia › - Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey talks preserving Austin culture on Joe Rogan podcast - austonia › - New Austinite Joe Rogan visits the Governor's Mansion - austonia › - Joe Rogan surprises Big Laugh Comedy with show - austonia › - Joe Rogan episode talks about socialism - austonia › - Black Pumas bring Austin music to the VP inaugural fundraising roster - austonia › - Dave Chappelle tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of Stubbs show, are buddies Rogan and Musk next? - austonia › - Musk labels Austin as next US 'boomtown' on Joe Rogan podcast - austonia › - Joe Rogan sells Los Angeles home after moving to Austin - austonia › - Joe Rogan is opening new comedy club in austin, texas - austonia › - Joe Rogan moves into new well-lit studio in Austin - austonia › - Joe Rogan retracts telling young people not to get vaccine - austonia › - Joe Rogan's influence wanes in the Spotify era of $100M podcast - austonia › - Joe Rogan responds to clip of him saying the N-word - austonia › Lately, the crypto market is looking shaky. The price of bitcoin fell by more than half from its high, the digital currency luna crashed to $0 and a type of so-called stablecoin TerraUSD has been described as dead. Reporting from the LA Times notes that experts seeing a correlation between traditional markets and the cryptocurrency market is high right now, with plunges in one being followed by a plunge in the other. On Wednesday, stocks had their worst day in more than two years with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1,164 points. Crypto’s volatility has long been questioned, especially after SXSW this year was filled with Web3 enthusiasts and displays. With 8% of Texans owning Bitcoin and many others involved in the local crypto and Web3 scene, what are they feeling amid the crash? In a written comment to Austonia, ATX DAO said a positive with the downturn is that “most of the speculative moneygrab type projects get washed out of the market, and the quality projects that deliver real value remain and gather more attention.” The group went on to say it could work to their advantage as they carry out their latest project: a mural at Native Hostel that will have an NFT version. They’ll use sales toward donations to HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a local nonprofit that supports artists and creatives. Meanwhile, Yagub Rahimov, a founder of an Austin-based Web3 company explains that they aren’t really impacted by the crash. Since the company known as Tested Web functions as a Web3 online reputation marketplace, it is utilizing blockchain technology without tokenizing. “We are a share to earn marketplace. That means that any activity that users have on tested web.com, we will be rewarding,” Rahimov said. “Those rewards are coming in the form of rewards points. And every quarter they can opt in to receive either a gift card or a check. We are not issuing any cryptocurrency. That's one of the important elements that I believe we got it right that way.” With recent developments at Tested Web, Rahimov says he “couldn’t be happier.” After struggling to find tech talent in early spring, he’s had a hiring spree in the last 10 days and received a $1 million grant and partnership with Silent Notary, a blockchain-powered validation provider. But his recent business success aside, Rahimov is noticing what’s happening in the markets and predicts that the correlation between the crypto market and traditional one will be broken. “The way Bitcoin was introduced back in 2009, it was as a reply or response to the 2008 market crash,” Rahimov said. “And it really feels like we are in 2007, 2008, actually, early, early days of the market crash. And if it becomes that way, very likely that the winner is going to be those of decentralized parties.” - Local investors create ATX DAO, where crypto meets community ... › - Austin announces crypto-friendly initiatives ahead of SXSW - austonia › - Austin City Council hesitantly embraces studying crypto - austonia › - How crypto is being used to support Ukraine - austonia › - Crypto-curious? Here's Austonia's mini-guide to getting started in ... › - An Austin group is exploring new territories in crypto by providing ... › - Austin leads in Texas crypto job market - austonia › - Difficulties in incorporating crypto in Austin: risk, inclusion, energy ... › Barton Springs Pool is on a condensed schedule while the city tries to fill out its lifeguard roster. The popular pool is currently closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays while it navigates a lifeguard shortage. The city is offering bonuses to new applicants who can start by early June. Austin Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Jodi Jay said there are 207 lifeguards ready to work and 100 incoming but the department needs 750 to be fully staffed. Zoom out: The pandemic has had a lasting impact on hiring—in 2019, the city was able to hire 850 lifeguards. The Aquatic Department has been unable to match those numbers since it reopened training classes in spring of 2021. Why it matters: The city needs at least 400 lifeguards, plus 30 with open water certification, to open pools on a modified schedule by June 4. Without hitting that mark, some facilities could limit hours or close. The job pays between $16-19 an hour, anyone over 15 can get certified and there are bonuses on the table: - $500 bonus if you get certified and start working by June 6. - $500 bonus if you work through August 14. - $250 bonus if you get advanced certification.
History Of The vinceunlimited Website Cast your minds back to 2003. Cars were drawn along by horses, someone was working on the wheel design and nothing was ever any good because nobody had come up with the idea of sliced bread. Probably. However some steam powered computers were starting to be on the desks of ordinary decent folks. And this intrigued me. The content on this magical non-TV was relatively sparse and what was there seemed within my creative abilities and often well below. So, like an early pioneer I decided I wanted to stake my claim in the ever burgeoning wibbly, wobbly web. I was always writing stuff down, coming up with ideas, sketching down jokes and such but wanted an outlet for my creativity. I always fear that my body of work may never get out and would remain forever stagnant, in my drawers. The web seemed the latest place to publish stuff so I undertook to learn how to secure my bit of web-land. I soon understood that it's not just a case of clicking on a blank bit of the internet and typing away. Plus this was way before a modern world of helpful Apps and YouTube guides. In those days everything was hand coded to order in a strange new programming language called HTML. I had to buy a book [ask your great-grandfather] to learn about this new fangled HTML gobbledygook. I had tried a bit of code writing in the earliest days of computing, a touch of CP/M in the 1980s and a fragment of MS DOS Basic following this so I was already used to seeing such weird combinations of alphabet characters and rarely used symbols lurking on a screen display. I undertook to code. And code. And code. I was relentless. It was relentlessly boring. But I was on a roll. Then a wrap and finally a Burrito just to sustain myself. I had a vision of what my site would be like. In those days the internet was usually accessed by a dial up modem through your local telephone land-line and it was miserably slow. If you started to download a sexy picture of a woman one morning it would slowly build one line at a time from the top of the picture and by midday you may be able to tell what colour eyes she had. No idea if she was naked. The dial-tone, in the style of Murray Walker, would interrupt itself long before that. So I determined that my site had to rely on written content and not be peppered by irritating images failing to render. vinceunlimited Version 1 Coding began in earnest around August 2003 and by October of that year the site was ready to be published. I had hand-coded 166 pages of wordy musings all interlinked and spattered with hyper-links to other relevant sites. As can be seen from the accompanying screenshot the site was based on a theme of black text on a silver-grey background with the eponymous title in green. I used underlining for links. It had no graphics. The four basic navigation sectors remain to this day being the major sub-sections of Ideas, Opinions, Personal and Writing. During the course of the next two years various version 1 versions and updates were released adding new content, correcting spelling errors and de-bugging any failing links. Version 1.01 [Yes, I anticipated up to 99 version variants, or at least possibly more than 9] was published in January 2004 and indeed one of the first changes was a versions page, which was helpful for all my stalkers. I modified the Home Page to work on more machines, changed all the poor quality links, an unfortunate side effect of hand coding all the HTML script which ran the pages and surmised that now that I could test the links in a real world situation the number of mis-links would minimise. I invited readers to be my eyes and ears out there (or should I say eyes and thumbs). Version 1.01 also included new page additions. The major change undoubtably being the publication of the sitcom episode Site for Sore Eyes. A major publication from me taking ages to convert to HTML from the original Sanskrit. The second version of the first version followed almost as if fate had determined it, in March 2004. Version 1.02 added some sketches plus I released a tantalising start to a full stage-play, along with some extra ideas. After all, I didn't want to loose my reputation as an ideas man. Unless the change was to a ladies man, naturally. No, no. Not a ladyboy. That is entirely different. You can see, even in these earliest incarnations one thing I wanted to do was get my pre-written content out there. Somewhere. Anywhere. It was February 2005 before Version 1.03 sprouted legs and got going, boasting over 80 pages. However, the big news for me, as the website author, was the fact that I had my first feedback, despite the fact that, at that time, I hadn't yet launched the site on the unsuspecting general public. Up to then most readers probably knew me, or knew someone who did. This prompted me to formally notify Google of my presence. No posters, email shots or TV advertising had yet occurred [as if]. I found it interesting to watch people browse the site. It was designed to be read so a user could logically pass from page to page. Readers, however I discovered, have their own agenda along with their own twisted minds so the hyperlinks were abused and ignored with the inevitable disarray that follows. What was wrong with the homepage? One wouldn't read a book by grabbing at random chapters but internet browsing had made us work in this fashion which was a nightmare for me as a web designer. And it is this disordered chaos that resulted in the first memorable quote about my site. A work colleague, upon being asked what he thought of my site said "...it is rather opinionated..." Admittedly, not the most complimentary of comments but a positive reaction at least. So I enquired further and asked which part of the site he had read. He replied "The opinions section." Ahem. Pages that were new in v1.03 included My favourite TV and films, Road tests and Quotes. The final iteration of version 1, Version 1.04, was never formally acknowledged as a separate version as it only re-published current pages. They were all crafted around March 2005. vincepoynter Version 1 In March 2005 vincepoynter.co.uk was launched to provide a formal personal website and offer an on-line comprehensive curriculum vitae. The first pages included the homepage, a CV, email, personal, version and webcredit. The personal page had no details and was published ‘under construction’. The site was hand-coded in HTML with an improved layout incorporating a sidebar, multiple colours and a nifty 3D surround effect. The colours were toned down for the Apr 2005 Version 1.01 which also added some detail to the personal page incorporating some background about the Poynter name and listed paternal relatives from grandparents to great, great, great grandparents. Plus a link to a page list of self-employment contracts carried out between 1999 and 2005. Version 1.02 was issued in Jun 2006 which updated the CV and self-employment details and added some facts about Poynters across the world. Version 1.03 dated Sep 2006 added a link to the vinceunlimited website. Version 1.04 was published in Apr 2009 and updated the CV and self-employment details and included a link to IMPRECE, a self-employment limited company set up for formal tax purposes. Nearly a year later in Mar 2010 Version 1.05 was published simplifying the URL of each page, also updating the CV and self-employment details and the FTP credit. Then more than two years after that in Jul 2012 Version 1.06 was released as the final iteration of the vincepoynter website. It again updated the CV and self-employment details, plus removed reference to IMPRECE and updated the hosting credit. vinceunlimited Version 2 It took a couple of months after Version 1 before Version 2 of the vinceunlimited website appeared on the internet in May 2005 with coding that took my site to the next level with a better layout to match the vincepoynter website with a sidebar, dual colours and a nifty 3D surround effect as shown in the screen capture to the right. It also featured an animated, scrolling copyright notice relentlessly passing across the top of every screen. All this across nearly one hundred pages of wit, intellect and entertainment. Because of the time taken to recode all the eighty plus pages of the site to the new layout I had not been as productive as I would have liked but did find time to add a major Political Section which could have resided under my Opinions section as it was a major opinion on the political system in Britain. Disillusioned with the incumbent political parties I decided that instead of claiming I could do better I'd offer my own alternative version. I also added to my Ideas and Opinions sections. Plus more Road Tests including a test on a Bentley Arnage, no less. And Alphacar, an epic vehicle related poem that takes the reader on a journey through many car types. Finally I gave a small obituary note for the loss of my previous obtuse links at the foot of each page. They had to go. The concept was just too ahead of it's time [read as: ...no one got it]. Version 2.01 was another tranche of uploads hoiked up to my webhost in one go (Why are they always webhosts? I'd personally like a webhostess). This July 2005 subset was a mere updating and increasing of pages including a major new addition for this version, the publication of my stage play Perpetually. A long page in website land translated to the screen from a 67-page printed version. Yes the whole lot online. Plus a road test on my Honda CX500 and two chapters to my growing autobiography. I let loose on my earliest schooldays and a paragraph or two on my family. It was a big step and I couldn't tread those paths without mentioning people that are alive. I did note that if that might be you note that the blind never read ill of themselves. And wondered, is that a proverb? Which is where my next new feature came in. I added a brand new page that I called webquotes. So named to distinguish it from my other quotations page. Finally, I had so many ideas floating around that I posted not one, not two, not even indeed any number totalling four or above, but instead three new ideas, with an assurance that there was many more to come. Some just languishing around lazily on my hard drive just waiting to get electronically heart massaged into life. During September 2005 version 2.02 added a new page within the Opinions section, plus a road test article on my Kwaker 750. I also added to my autobiography with an anecdote or two about water-skiing, within a section I entitled Action Vince. As usual more of my zany ideas were included. Four newbies this time, taking the total to fifteen. Finally, conscious of the changing nature of personal web site activity, I embarked on a new web blog. Which, by it's sporadic nature started to affect my neat version numbering system. The purpose of the blog was to float little ideas and opinions that may not justify a whole new page. But one entry did became so absorbing that I decided to transmutate it into a whole page. It wasn't until June 2006 that Version 2.03 arrived including a ten most hated list along with another list for my top ten artists and a couple more ideas. Plus a new invention of mine providing neat little thought provoking rhymes and a pitch. Not to mention some quote and blog updates. Which I have now done. It was another six months before I updated again. Version 2.04 was released in December 2006 and notably included some radio scripts I had previously submitted to the BBC. Plus I fingered my keyboard to spill the beans on a few future concepts within my fiction and TV Shows pages. Along with a few more jokes and quotes. Finally, I was as proud as pudding to announce that my site had now received actual feedback so my points of view page was born. vinceunlimited Version 3 In HTML coding I always struggled with word wrapping, getting the text to set and hug neatly around images. I also struggled with graphic based links and couldn't find the time and way to code version three which was planned to look like the image on the right. Also, although the concept of HTML coupled with CSS was initially released in 1996 it didn't really appear on my radar and be understood by me until much later. Despite much standard HTML testing it never quite looked like I wanted it to look on a Mac and PC but a potential saviour was waiting on my desktop. In January 2006 Apple had launched a seemingly perfect tool for me. The introduction of their colourful and simple to use Mac OS iWeb Application appeared to offer a solution. It was generally six or so months between major updates of my website due to work and mortgage paying requirements. I enjoyed the writing but the coding was a bit arduous. Every page seemed to need an HTML update at each major iteration. But iWeb promised drag and drop images and simple WYSIWYG text updating. I decided to go with it and embarked on a long process of selecting a layout, then transferring my 120 pages or so of HTML coding back into standard text and then into iWeb, along with adding some carefully selected pictures with graphic touches to suit the site look. iWeb became the basis for version 3 of my website but it took until March 2010 until it was ready for publication. Are you paying attention to these dates? A quiz will follow. One issue was the abandonment of my version variants. iWeb was designed to be a living, breathing application. I could have opted for formal version updates or theme changes but the concept seemed to suit a live update process, leaving the homepage to be a set look and updates added as required to various sections. This would assist in me maintaining a consistent website look, which is important to regular readers. However, the downside is that each time a visitor came to the site it would look unaltered, unless they delved deeper into the subsections. Most article updates started in my blog section. It was becoming a trend of personal websites. FaceBook, Twitter and WordPress was encouraging the process of regular, daily, even hourly updates. And everyone was moving away from the concept of personal websites. Ease of use for the masses meant that peoples' personal webspace was being absorbed into the major players. I too had embraced these new concepts. Around October 2007 I had joined FaceBook and in January 2009 Twitter. Although I tended to keep my various online identities as separate entities. Various blog entries were added to my iWeb site between the launch date and March 2011, including transcripts from the best of my own Twitter feeds. In the end Apple had other ideas about keeping this iWeb pet project alive and it's last iteration was in July 2011. It became clear that I had to find another way to maintain my web presence. vinceunlimited Version 4 With the continued growth of FaceBook, Twitter and WordPress personal web sites appeared to have become a bit passé. The era of the common blog had really taken root. For one thing this solved the issue of static front home pages as the blog style content kept the front page looking fresh. So this bandwagon was truly seized upon when I clambered aboard a WordPress site, in July 2012, effectively making this the fourth version of vinceunlimited.co.uk Over the next couple of years I persisted with my WordPress site, trying one or two pre-determined layouts as I went. WordPress is mostly about piggy-backing on other people's hard worked designs and I always felt that trying to disguise this plagiarism with a bit of personal customisation awkward and unsatisfactory. Another nail in this coffin was the increasing charges made for using this service. Admittedly someone has to host a website and it is right and correct that this service should be paid for. The provider has to hold your site contents and feed it out to those that request it. I was always a tiny, minor player, considering the traffic that went to some sites so I always opted for the most basic of services and WordPress provided this sort of service free. However, when I wanted to add audio files in August 2014 a use charge was levied. Not based on actual number of downloads but on an assumption I was the BBC. This affected my view of the service. Additionally, I missed the days where I could feel pride in the fact that I hand-coded my own website. Anybody could put out a blog, not many knew how to write the background stuff. Plus converting standard WordPress pages to include additional sections and getting the articles in them to be searchable is really difficult. At least, I never discovered a way. Furthermore the promise of riding with a pack like WordPress is that one can expect a bit of cross fertilisation to help with getting my thoughts and words out there. Go to the .com page and there are countless adverts showing off the sites' wonderful users' content. But I saw very little evidence of such subtle advertisement and what interest I did received could have just as easily arrived randomly. vinceunlimited Version 5 Innovations in version 5 include a three column layout with blog style front page featuring text wrapped images with each article to have a release date as well as first published information. Also one click access to a mobile view version with every page replicated in a mobile format, clickable photo icons, vSearch, opportunities to advertise with vAdvert plus a vType drop down menu and 'Random Page Generator' links, along with a mini live Twitter feed. Other than all that just the same as always. So what will the future bring? Well firstly I need to re-establish my website presence, flying solo again as vinceunlimited and not via a third party. I need to rebuild the approximately 200 plus pages of site content once more so there is a great library of my stuff and reestablish links where possible. And I need to find space for all the previously written blog articles to nestle, fully searchable by date, title and theme. And I need to get all those brand new blog ideas which are currently festering on my hard drive out into the big old webosphere. And when all this is done I will no doubt settle back, have a quick ponder then immediately look to version 6, which will be much more Web 2.0 with live floating graphics, interactivity, 4D content and maybe even touch and smell sensitive. All as an implantosite in your brain. Probably. Author: Vince Poynter Version m5.321 29 Jun 2021 First Published: Version m5.001 30 Sep 2017 Outdated links removed: Version m5.070 13 Feb 2018 Version m5.081 13 Mar 2018 added vincepoynter.co.uk Version 1.00 details 2021 website updates [see website page for full details]: Version m5.321 29 Jun 2021
Bill Valentine, legendary Arkansas Travelers executive and former American League umpire, was named”King of Baseball” at the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego. The day after his crowning ceremony, I sat down with Valentine, now in his 80s, for a wide-ranging interview. This chat has already resulted in one MiLB.com feature, but , as I noted at the time, there was PLENTY more where that came from. During the course of our very long conversation – if you know Bill Valentine, then you know that he likes to tell stories – I asked him if, as King, he had any advice for his “subjects” now working in the industry. His advice, in so many words, could be summarized as “Keep it simple, stupid.” But I’ll let him tell it. The floor is now ceded to the King, so that he may enlighten the next generation of Minor League Baseball executives on a variety of topics. Finally, it would be a good idea to listen to this classic Valentine voicemail message before reading the remainder of this post. It really helps to have a sense of his distinct (and often hilarious) manner of speaking. (Note: This article, in slightly different form, first appeared in the Minor League Baseball industry newsletter The Dugout.) Bill Valentine on ballpark food People don’t know this, but when Bobby Bragan was the president of the Minor Leagues I started the Freitas Seminar [a Minor League business seminar held during the Winter Meetings]. It wasn’t called that then, I just had a seminar. I brought the general managers in to speak, but we talked about soft drinks, we talked about food, we talked about promotions, we talked about ticket sales, we talked about the souvenir stand. You know what people want when they come to the ballpark? Peanuts, popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, a cold beer and a soft drink. They can get a brisket sandwich for lunch or anywhere else. But when they come to the ballpark, even if they’re in $40,000 suites, they want ballpark food. I found that out. And it’s true to this day. You can’t make a hamburger better than Five Guys. There ain’t no way you’re going to do those type of things better than the local guys. You can’t do barbeque better than some guy who owns a barbeque place. But hardly anybody in town is doing peanuts, popcorn, nachos and hot dogs. You got high profit in it. And I tell people, no one ever said “Hey, let’s go to [the Travelers home of] Dickey-Stephens Park tonight. They’ve got great sushi.” Stick with the basics. Put your emphasis on what I just told you. Keep the popcorn hot, make sure you’ve got an all-meat fantastic hot dog, and the beer should be the coldest of anywhere in town. Seriously, [slapping hands for emphasis] that will make you a lot of money. On team merchandise My idea of souvenirs was to have my logo in the community. I wanted everyone to have Traveler ballcaps. I wanted the kids to have Traveler wristbands. I wanted them in a Travelers t-shirt…..So, a $10 t-shirt. They don’t blink. But a $22 t-shirt? Jeez. The team cap, one size fits all? Maybe $10, $11. The one that’s a real team hat? In the $20s, maybe. Then have a lot of things, like a logo baseballs. You get the damn things for a dollar and a half. Sell it for four. Sell all that stuff, get a nice little margin but try to push it out the by the barrelful. On customer service I really think that, every game, there should be someone at the entrances with a club hat on welcoming people. And at the end of the game, same people, saying “Hope you come back.” And I think people enjoy that, they say, “You know, they were really nice.” I think that can go a long way. Just saying thank you. Every night I would send out ‘mystery people’ to the concession stands. One had a $20 bill, and the other had a $10 bill. And they would go to the stands and buy something, and if the person selling said “Thank you” then the mystery person would give them the money. It really turned them around. Our employees were saying “thank you.” It’s just a nice courtesy. I had everyone around the ballpark saying “thank you.” I did it by passing out some money. On the primary importance of the women’s restroom I had never seen a line at the men’s restroom. So when we built [Dickey-Stephens] ballpark I said “We’re going to take half the men’s restrooms and add them to the ladies’ room.” They told me I couldn’t do it, because of federal things. I said, “I get to build this ballpark. The mayor gave it to me and it’s my ballpark.” So I made the ladies restroom twice as big as the men’s room. The ladies restrooms probably had 30 commodes in them. I mean, really. Opening night, a guy came over from the television station and said “Okay, Mr. Promoter. What’s the one thing tonight you think people are going to notice?” I said “I’m going to tell you something. The first time a woman goes to the women’s restroom, if I’m nearby they’re going to come out and hug my neck and say to me that it is the most fantastic thing they’ve ever seen.” Well, when Opening Night came and the gates opened [the TV reporter] put me at the exit of the ladies restroom. The first lady came out, ran over, hugged my neck and said “That was the most fantastic bathroom I have ever seen in my life.” And [the reporter], he just threw his hands up and said “You SOB.” I’m going to assume that, at this point in time, you have already thoroughly scoured my post on 2014 road trip itineraries. (If you haven’t, then please click HERE). Thanks to all who have provided feedback on that post; more is always encouraged via [email protected] and twitter.com/bensbiz But enough about me! Did you know that, in recent weeks, several new Minor League mascots have made their debut? I am sensing a profoundly ambivalent response to that query, but soldiering on in the face of ambivalence is what I do best. Therefore, let’s start with Chico of the El Paso Chihuahuas, who I will be able to meet in person on April 29th. Say what you will about the Chihuahuas name/logo/overall branding efforts, but one thing they are definitely not is bashful. Chico, who came into the world without even a scintilla of an origin story, is IN YOUR FACE. (This, and all Chico photos, courtesy Peter Svarzbein/El Paso Chihuahuas) Let’s back up a little… From the rear. This photo could in no way be misconstrued. I do my best to refrain from lazy “only on the internet” phrases such as “nightmare fuel,” but there’s no doubt that Chico has a bit of an edge too him. He’s got red eyes, a dog collar necklace, and a cockeyed, teeth-baring grin, three presentational elements that are rarely associated with the Minor League mantra of family-friendly entertainment. El Paso Chihuahuas — on the cutting edge, or missing the mark? I have a feeling that Chico doesn’t care what your opinion is, whatever it is. He will be performing for a fan base that includes Pauly Shore and Cheech Marin (really!), so chances are that he’ll fit in just fine. Meanwhile, a couple thousand miles to the northeast, the Akron RubberDucks have unveiled “Webster.” And, yes, let’s get this out of the way. As noted by more than one of my Twitter followers, Webster appears to be Minor League Baseball’s version of “Poochie,” the superfluous Itchy and Scratchy sidekick whose cynical conception and even more cynical demise was the subject of a classic Simpsons episode. It turns out that, in the flesh, Webster is downright endearing. Chances are slim that he will die on the way back to his home planet, I look forward to meeting him when I visit Akron on July 18. — Webster RubberDuck (@WebsterInAkron) April 12, 2014 Out in Modesto, Al the almond and Wally the walnut have long held things down on the mascot front. You’d think that the team would be content with displaying their pair of nuts at every home game, but, no, they want more. Get ready for a female pistachio! Like all female pistachios, this one needs a name! Fans are invited to choose among Penny, Patty, Shelley, Bella, or Polly, but why isn’t “Ms. Tachio” one of the options? I need to start a consulting company so that such wordplay opportunities are always taken advantage of within the industry. I would be good at this, and you know it. Finally, in Little Rock, the Arkansas Travelers have unveiled not one and not three but yes two mascots: Ace and Otey. Sez the team: Ace is a native Arkansan who grew up rooting for the Travelers. He proudly served his country and upon returning to the Natural State competed and won the Mascot Tryout. With a name like “Ace” of course he is a pitcher and stands at a very menacing 7′ 2″ tall and weighs 501 pounds with a size-36 hoof. From the Travs’ Opening Day Facebook photo album: At 7’2″, Ace’s height is even greater than former Arkansas Traveler Loek Van Mil! This, also from the Travs, might be one of my favorite mascot bios in recent memory. Initially the idea was for just one mascot, but when Ace introduced the Travs and Hughes Agency to his best friend “Otey the Swamp Possum” during the interview process all bets were off. Just like Ace, Otey is also native to the state hailing from Southeast Arkansas. He grew up watching Travs games with his family from underneath the stands at Little Rock’s Ray Winder Field. Otey, who was named after former Traveler infielder and groundskeeper R.C. Otey, claims that he is the Travelers’ “Good Luck Charm”. In fact Otey believes that his superstitions helped the Travs win the 2008 Texas League Championship even though their 62-78 regular season record was the worst for a champion in Texas League history. Otey stands a stout 5 feet tall, he is a fan of second base and the “phantom double play” and his favorite number is .984, which was R.C. Otey’s career fielding percentage. And with this memorable bio comes a very memorable mascot. Okay, let’s back it up just a bit… Otey inspired a brief burst of snark and faux-outrage from amateur hour internet hyperbolists, but so what? As Otey’s bio makes clear — and this is something I learned firsthand when I visited in 2012 — the Travs and their fans have a strong nostalgia for their colorful Ray Winder Field past. So much so, the beer garden at their current home of Dickey-Stephens Field is named after a well-known and often well-lubricated fan who would slide, in shorts, into a popcorn box base. Otey should fit right in. And with that, it’s time for me to hook slide on out of here. Yesterday’s post barely scratched the surface of my Arkansas Travelers experience, seeing as how it concluded with the game’s first pitch. Now it’s time to dive in, headfirst, to part II! I was in the press box for the singing of the National Anthem… and then it was time to — yes — Play Ball! It sure took long enough! And with the game finally, mercifully, underway, I commenced to wandering. I hadn’t yet worked up an appetite, but couldn’t help but take note of the various concourse food options. Premium popsicles, courtesy of “Le Pops.” I really should have ordered a salted caramel! The more standard concessions were all reasonably priced, and this is one the hallmarks of the Dickey-Stephens experience ($3 hot dog, $3.50 sausage, $3.75 nachos, etc). The open-air wandering was good for both soul and constitution, and provided pleasing vantage points aplenty. But soon I returned to the press box, for this is my destiny. For the sixth (and final) time on this trip, I spent an inning on the radio (I’ll forgive the Springfield Cardinals for being the only team not to extend the invitation). Here’s the view from the booth, presided over by RJ Hawk (left) and Phil Elson. One of the topics was the impending post-game Diamond Dig, which Hawk was slated to MC. He informed me that it would be an excellent place to meet young single women, and my last words on the air were “I’m gonna get married tonight.” It didn’t happen, but — foreshadowing alert! — there were indeed single women aplenty and they were beautiful. I’ve been a fan of Elson’s broadcast work ever since 2005, when I listened to him call the controversial ending of that year’s Texas League Championship Series between Arkansas and Midland. Here’s how I described it in a 2007 MiLB.com article: The Travelers were trailing with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the bases empty when Jason Aspito came to the plate representing Arkansas’ last hope. The left fielder worked the count full, and then took ball four. Except plate umpire Steve Fritzoni had apparently lost track of the count and ordered Aspito back into the batter’s box. He struck out on the next pitch — on a 4-2 count! — handing the RockHounds a season-ending championship victory. Elson was furious at this turn of events, and bitterly spit out the phrase “Have a nice career, Fritzoni!” That has since become a personal motto of mine, whenever I (or someone around me) messes up. “Have a nice career, Fritzoni!” I say to myself. I’ll end this nerdy digression by turning to something even nerdier, which I know a portion of my readership will be deeply interested in: a Texas League memo regarding proper conduct toward official scorers: The next order of business – and I’m all business on these trips — was a concourse interview with assistant park superintendent Reggie Temple. In addition to his official job duties, Reggie spends the bulk of every game washing and detailing cars in the parking lot. (This side business is known as “Reasonable Reggie’s Car Wash” and his oft-stated motto is “Gimme Your Keys!”) Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Reggie Temple. But that’s not all. Of course not. Reggie is also an accomplished and enthusiastic roller skater, and he brings his skates to the ballpark with him. Throughout our conversation, he would stop and dance whenever snippets of music played over the PA. The funny thing about Reggie was that he didn’t seem to be showing off for me, or anyone. He was totally nonchalant and business-like, like “Music comes on, I skate. That’s what I do.” (More on Reggie in my MiLB.com piece). My Reggie rendezvous occurred just outside of the “Travelers Baseball Museum,” so naturally that was my next destination. It is what its name implies — an area packed to the gills with memorabilia from Little Rock’s long and distinguished professional baseball history. This cartoon good-naturedly pokes fun at legendary Travelers owner and operator Bill Valentine (now retired). And here’s Valentine’s desk, from old Ray Winder Field. A few more museum shots: Okay, now it was time to eat. Travs general manager Pete Laven had told me that the team sold a “Deer Dog” (as in, venison), a locally-made creation that alluded to the prevalence of hunting in the Arkansas region. I did a quick run-through of the concourse in search of one, but, somehow, failed. It’s my fault — it was getting late in the game at this point, and I had wanted to make it back to the press box in time for the seventh-inning stretch. So, as is so often the case in life, I settled for a big ol’ corn dog. (Like my Yuengling in Jackson, this corn dog had a special significance to me, and I’ll explain why in my next post. It will be a “very special” edition of Ben’s Biz Blog, don’t miss it). C.D. in the P.B.: The seventh-inning stretch is sung by Elson himself, and he takes these duties very seriously. Here he is, plunging the depths of the soul, waiting for the sound of the organ to waft through the ballpark. And, truly, he really belts it out, with the last note of the song sustained for a good 15 seconds or so. Perhaps a video will one day emerge, but this is all I’ve got. I spent the remainder of the ballgame speaking with (and being interviewed by) Matt and Carolyn LaWell. They are a 20-something married couple in the midst of a season-long trek through the entirety of (full-season) Minor League Baseball, and their dispatches from the road are chronicled at their website aminorleagueseason.com. They are truly skilled and committed writers, and it was a fortunate (although not entirely surprising) happenstance that our paths ended up crossing. I’ll have a little more on them later, but the next order of business was something truly special. The post-game Diamond Dig! This is a Minor League promotional staple, in which the women in attendance (18 and over) are invited on to the field post-game in order to dig (with a plastic spoon) for a small box buried in the infield dirt. And this box? It contains a diamond ring. As soon as the game ended, the combatants lined up for their shot at post-game treasure. In the following shot, the individuals with the cameras are the aforementioned Matt and Carolyn LaWell. The women soon streamed forth onto the infield, and then patiently waited for the announcement that it was time to start digging. I will take a conservative approach regarding which, and how many, photos I post here, but I would like to say that I was truly astounded by the number of beautiful women who were on the field. Like, this is just who happens to be in Little Rock for a Minor League Baseball game on a Thursday night? It was amazing. After about 10 minutes of fruitless digging, Hawk (the MC) gave the clue that the diamond could be found on the right side of the infield. A migration ensued: The digging then resumed in earnest, but soon there was commotion from just beyond second base. Heads began to turn in that general location… and for good reason! The diamond had been found! I made my way through the scrum to get a closer look… and — YES! — there it was in all its glory! Here’s the winner, looking both relieved and elated. This woman was a skilled competitor. If you go all the way back to my first Diamond Dig photo, of the women waiting on the stairs, you’ll see that she was first in line and plotting her strategy. Congrats! And now the evening — and my road trip — was finally over. But I was in no hurry to leave. I watched the indefatigable interns clean the stands, before retiring to their on-site apartment for the evening. And then snapped a photo of the LaWells in the home dugout. But it all ended with this photo, as accurate a summation of the Minor League life as there ever was. This most recent trip, which I never came up with a proper name for beyond “OKARMOTN,” wrapped up with a return engagement in the “AR” part of the equation: Little Rock, home of the Arkansas Travelers. Since 2007, the Travs have made their home within the spacious confines of Dickey Stephens Park: Dickey-Stephens is a great place to watch a game, and I had a phenomenal time during my lone evening there. It was action-packed, full of memorable characters and situations, and there’s a good chance that this post will be broken up into two pieces. (That’ll be a play it by ear kind of situation, keep reading and I’ll keep writing.) But all that said, I’ll tell you right now that, on one level, my trip to Little Rock was a total failure. This is because I didn’t make it to Ray Winder Field, which served as the Travelers’ home from 1932-2006. (This photo taken from ArkansasRoadStories.com) Word has it that the facility is in bad shape these days, a most dispiriting situation, but I wanted to get to Ray Winder because nearly everyone I spoke to at Dickey-Stephens said I needed to. It is a place with mystique, where irascible owner Bill Valentine (now retired) ran a no-tech operation that was high in charisma and “only in Minor League Baseball” eccentricity. Broadcaster Phil Elson, who spent six years at working at Ray Winder, regaled me with tales involving beer can pyramids, midgets on scooters, and not-fit-to-print owner-umpire repartee before wrapping it up like this: “You can come to a game here [Dickey-Stephens] and enjoy it. It’s great. But if you used to go to games at Ray Winder, then you still have Ray Winder in your heart.” (So, yeah, I’m frustrated I didn’t make it there. I didn’t have the time, pre-game, because of an agonizingly slow drive coming in from Jackson on I-40 that afternoon. And, my attempt to stop by the next morning before flying out of Little Rock was stymied by what was, apparently, the wrong address. But enough rambling justifications, which I wrote down solely to appease my own tendency toward self-criticism…) There is still PLENTY to write about, live and direct from Dickey-Stephens Park! That post-game Diamond Dig was just fantastic, and we’ll get to that in due time. But the first order of business was, as usual, a player interview. While I waited for Elson to procure a victim (thanks, Darwin Perez), I followed up on a commenter’s tip and investigated the interior of this unassuming structure located down the right field line: It looks like it would house team offices, perhaps, or maybe a storage area. But, no — this is an intern living area! Six young men in their early 20s, co-existing in harmony (more or less). Steven Kettler, a West Virginia native, was the only one “home” when I stopped by for a visit. Kettler gave me a tour of this humble abode, which has been used as such since Dickey-Stephens opened in 2007. It consists of a living room, kitchen, bathroom and three bedrooms (with two beds apiece) and, as you might imagine, is a bit on the “messy” side of the housekeeping equation. For more, read THIS MiLB.com article. The top TV simply carries a live feed of the nearby baseball field, so that the occupants always know what’s going on and what may need to be done (setting up and taking down BP is one of their many daily duties, for example). This hallway leads to the bedroom suites, which are, of course, impeccably maintained. Just take my word for it. Reminders of Ray Winder Field are plentiful throughout Dickey-Stephens Park. This storage shed, located a proverbial hop, skip and a jump from the intern apartments, has seats from the old stadium stacked up against it. Meanwhile, these Winder relics have been pressed into active duty at Dickey-Stephens: Dickey-Stephens boasts a downtown location, and plenty of Little Rock landmarks can be seen from the outfield concourse. The white structure in front of the skyscraper is the Old State House. Per that unassailable information source that is Wikipedia, the Old State House is ” the oldest surviving state capitol building west of the Mississippi River. It is known best as the site of President Bill Clinton‘s election night celebration in 1992.” It has since been designated a National Historic Landmark. I made my way back to the front entrance just before the gates were scheduled to open. Outside, a crowd had formed. Many of these early arriving partisans were eager to get their hands on the evening’s giveaway, which was stacked up in huge quantities on a full-to-bursting concourse table. That would be a Garrett Richards replica jersey t-shirt, distributed to the first 1000 youths in attendance. Many of these youths made an immediate wardrobe change upon procuring one. Upon entering the stadium, many of the fans make an immediate right. To the beer garden! The beer garden’s bleacher seating is an homage to Ray Winder Field. “Hook Slide Corner” is what this area is officially known as, and boy oh boy is there a story behind that. To a large degree, this drawing tells the tale: Walter “Hook Slide” Bradshaw was a regular at the Ray Winder beer garden. His nightly routine, as captured in the above drawing, was to do his “hook slide” into a popcorn box base, on concrete, while wearing jean shorts. And the reward for his effort was free beer from his fellow fans, which, once consumed, would inevitably end up as part of a teetering can pyramid. It’s hard to imagine a Minor League team condoning such behavior, let alone making it a part of its franchise mythology, but this is just one of the reasons that the Travelers stand out. I couldn’t find any pictures of Bradshaw online, but here’s a shot of a newspaper tribute that I took while visiting the ballpark museum (more on that later): And now, Hook Slide Bradshaw has obtained Beer Garden immortality! A mascot based on Hook Slide Bradshaw would be awesome, but the Travs, understandably, went a safer route: That’s Shelly the Horse, hanging out by the inflatable-laden “Kidz Korner.” A better vantage point can be obtained simply by turning in the other direction, however. Texas League Baseball! Some 1050 words later, I’ve finally reached a point in the narrative where the ballgame is underway. And there’s still so much more to write about! Including but not limited to: a roller-skating, car-washing member of the grounds crew, a phenomenal seventh-inning stretch, an encounter with this season’s premier Minor League nomads, and the embarrassment of riches that was the post-game Diamond Dig. Yep, this one is definitely gonna be a two-parter. Thank you for your patience; it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. To that end, today’s post features my 10 favorite photographs from the recently deceased campaign. All of these pictures appeared on this blog at some point during the season, and are presented in the order in which they originally appeared. Remember — it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Let’s all take a look at once was: Snowpening Day — Freezing precipitation prevented the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from playing their first scheduled home game, causing the players to release their start-of-the-season aggression upon hapless snowmen (note the Rattlers’ scoreboard message, a nice example of thinking ahead). Catatonic Cauliflower — Jerry “The King” Lawler visited Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium, leaving no doubt as to his feelings regarding rampaging vegetables.
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The professional we select will provide direct patient care, perform all technical dialysis procedures, assess response and make appropriate adjustments as directed by supervisor or physician. This individual will assess patient and document findings, administer medications, as well as assess and address patient/family educational needs regarding end-stage renal disease, dialysis therapy, diet and medications.--PURPOSE AND SCOPE:Supports FMCNA's mission, vision, core values and customer service philosophy. Adheres to the FMCNA Compliance Program, including following all regulatory and FMS policy requirements.----Functions as a member of the Home Dialysis Team as the Home Therapy Staff Nurse.--Ensures provision of quality Home Dialysis Training and patient care in accordance with FMS policies, procedures and the UltraCare at Home principles.-- Supports FMCNA's commitment to the Quality Assessment Performance Improvement Program (QAPI)) and CQI activities, including those related to patient satisfaction.-- Actively participates in Quality Assessment Performance Improvement (QAPI) process that may enhance the likelihood that patients will achieve established FMCNA Quality Target Goals.--DUTIES / ACTIVITIES:--CUSTOMER SERVICE: - Responsible for driving the FMS culture through values and customer service standards - Accountable for outstanding customer service to all external and internal customers. - Develops and maintains effective relationships through effective and timely communication.-- - Takes initiative and action to respond, resolve and follow up regarding customer service issues with all customers in a timely manner.PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: - Provides safe and effective training and oversight of the delivery of home dialysis therapy to the patient in compliance with standards outlined in the FMS Home Peritoneal Dialysis Policy and Procedure Manual, or/Home Hemodialysis Policy and Procedure Manual , as well as regulations set forth by the Corporation, state and federal agencies. Accountable for providing outstanding quality of patient care, as defined by FMS quality goals and standards. - Assists in the identification, evaluation and selection of Home Dialysis training candidates, and Home Partners as appropriate for the FMS Home Dialysis Program, - Educates the patient/Home Partner and family regarding ESRD and the availability of the FMS Treatment Options Program.(TOP) - Performs assessment of the Home Dialysis training candidate's home environment for suitability in the ongoing delivery of home - Assesses the Home Dialysis patient and Home Partner/family readiness and potential ability to perform dialysis treatments at - Participates in and ensures all FMCNA policies regarding patient admission, transfer, and discharge are appropriately - Admits all new home patients and documents the appropriate processes as required by policy and procedure. - Provides safe and effective delivery of home dialysis training and education to patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) who have selected a home modality as a---- dialysis therapy. - Trains the home dialysis candidate/Home Partner as appropriate on the safe and effective operation and maintenance of all home dialysis equipment and treatment supplies through an organized and formalized Home Dialysis Training Program.-- - Provides ongoing education to patients regarding their renal dialysis, peritoneal or vascular access and home dialysis therapy, and other related health conditions. - Assesses and manages patients' response to home dialysis training and treatment therapy by following prescribed - Communicates patient related issues to the physician as - Reports adverse patient events at home or in the clinic, as well as equipment and technology related problems to the Clinical Manager/Home Therapy Program Manager, and physician including the correct documentation of such events. - Coordinates the transfer or discharge of patients to the hemodialysis or transplant clinic when needed and appropriate. - Reviews, transcribes, and enters physician lab orders accurately into Proton,AMI or Ecube medical information systems as - Follows company policies and government regulations related to the collection, packaging, and delivery of lab specimens and reporting of results. - Maintains competency with all emergency operational procedures, and initiates CPR and emergency measures in the event of a cardiac and/or respiratory arrest when the patient is in the dialysis - Administers medications as prescribed including following prescribed algorithms (as appropriate), and documents appropriate medical justification if indicated and maintains records on controlled substances as required by law. - Documents all relevant data including physician orders, lab results, vital signs, and treatment parameters, and patient status and any treatment related data appropriately, and enters into the appropriate medical information system. - Completes all monthly and annual reporting as required by FMS policies and government regulations. - Submits CQI information to Clinical Manager or Program Manager for completion of HT QAI Template for inclusion in facility QAPI - Participates in all monthly QAPI meetings and all required staff meetings as scheduled. - Rotates coverage with other licensed staff to ensure reliable and adequate coverage and participates in 24/7 on-call coverage as - Participate in staff training and orientation of new staff as - Maintains appropriate skill level in the operation of all home dialysis therapy-related equipment, including the ability to troubleshoot equipment problems with the patient via - Directs patients in the appropriate routine maintenance of home dialysis equipment, including water systems procedures as appropriate, immediately reporting any water/dialysate problems to the facility Home Dialysis technical support staff. - Coordinates with the FMCNA RTG the ordering and delivery of the patient's initial dialysis supplies; the ordering of the patient's dialysis equipment as appropriate at the initiation of the training program; and the on-going operation and preventative maintenance of all home dialysis equipment through facility Technical support staff, or through the appropriate equipment vendor as - Other duties as assigned.PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS:The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.-- Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.--Employees are required to take the Ishihara's Color Blindness test as a condition of employment. Note that: Failing the Ishihara Test Blindness does not preclude employment. The Company will consider whether reasonable accommodations can be made.Day to day work includes desk and personal computer work and interaction with patients, facility staff and physicians.-- The position requires travel between assigned facilities and various locations within the community. Travel to regional, division and Corporate meetings may be required.-- The work environment is characteristic of a health care facility with air temperature control and moderate noise levels.-- May be exposed to infectious and contagious - Graduate of an accredited School of Nursing (R.N.) - Current appropriate state licensure--EXPERIENCE AND REQUIRED - Minimum of one year nursing experience required. - Minimum of three months (twelve weeks) Home Dialysis Training - Experience must be specific to the modality of Home Dialysis Training that the staff member will be providing, ie; Peritoneal Dialysis or Home Hemodialysis. - Must have successfully completed a training course in the theory and practice of dialysis therapy/ hemodialysis or peritoneal - Medical-surgical nursing experience and ICU experience preferred but not required. - Competent at operating all Home Dialysis related - Successfully complete CPR certification with maintenance as - Icd-9 coding Training. - Demonstrated teaching abilities using Adult Learning Identity Fresenius Medical Care North America maintains a drug-free workplace in accordance with applicable federal and state Keywords: FRESENIUS, Cape Coral , Home Therapy Registered Nurse - $5k Signon Bonus - Punta Gorda, Florida - Dialysis, Healthcare , Punta Gorda, Florida Didn't find what you're looking for? 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Sephora Black Friday By: Stacy Garrels \| November 24th, 2021 Beauty lovers love Sephora. This French-based, multi-national retailer sells high-end beauty products including makeup and cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, nail color and nail grooming supplies, haircare, brow pencil and brown grooming, body lotion, and more. Sephora sells popular high-end brands, and new and emerging prestige brands too. With over 400 store locations across the U.S. and Canada, odds are good there’s a Sephora store close by you. And with Sephora locations now appearing in select JCPenney and Kohl’s stores, there are more ways than ever to shop in a Sephora store and scoop up their amazing deals. While smart shoppers know how to score freebies and discounts from Sephora (with free samples, loyalty points, and birthday gifts), true sales events are rare. This make Sephora’s Black Friday sale a truly big deal with additional Sephora coupons. Does Sephora have sales on Black Friday? Yes, Sephora has sales every year for Black Friday. In fact, Sephora Black Friday deals feature deep discounts on bestselling brands that you won’t see at any other time during the year. Shoppers can take advantage of Black Friday sale deals online at Sephora.com and in Sephora stores. Is Sephora open on Thanksgiving Day? For Black Friday 2020, Sephora was closed on Thanksgiving Day. In previous years, Sephora was open with special holiday hours. For Sephora Black Friday 2021, the retailer has not stated whether or not they’ll be closed. Sephora Hours on Thanksgiving Day - 2019: Open with holiday hours – by 5 pm at most locations - 2020: Closed - 2021: To Be Announced Given that most retailers who closed last year for Thanksgiving (including Walmart, Target, and Kohl’s) will also remained closed this year, it seems likely that Sephora may follow that trend. Once the Sephora Black Friday 2021 ad comes out, we’ll be able to confirm Sephora’s Black Friday sale dates and store hours. Bookmark this page and check back. Our site will have all the ad scan details. When is Sephora Black Friday? Black Friday at Sephora is the entire day after Thanksgiving, which follows on Friday, November 26th this year. However, we do anticipate their Black Friday holiday sale will be a 5-day long event. - Black Friday Start Date: - In Stores: Friday, November 26th - Online: Thursday, November 25th - Black Friday End Date: Sunday, November 28th - Cyber Monday: Monday, November 29th At Sephora, as with many retailers, their Black Friday sale and Cyber Monday sale tend to blur together into one long holiday weekend shopping event. There may be some exclusive deals only available on Friday or on Monday, but by and large, the best deals will be available for the entire holiday shopping sales event. Doorbusters, webbusters, and limited edition items may sell out. It’s best to shop early to be assured of all the best deals. The Sephora Black Friday 2021 ad scan is not yet available. This is what we expect to see for dates and hours based on the past couple of years. Book mark this page and stay tuned; we’ll confirm all the details here once the ad scans are live. What time does Sephora Black Friday start online? We expect the Sephora Black Friday sale to start online on Thanksgiving. - Online Black Friday start time: Midnight or 12:01am on Thanksgiving Day It may be worth staying up late on Wednesday to wait for the clock to strike 12. After the Black Friday ad is out, we’ll be able to confirm the start time. Possibly, the sale could start 1-3 days earlier, but we do not think it will start any later. Book mark this page and check back. When is Sephora’s holiday sale? Sephora’s holiday sale refers to its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales event. We anticipate seeing Sephora’s 2021 holiday sale running from Friday, November 26th to Monday, November 29th. Online, we expect Black Friday to launch 1 day earlier – at midnight at the very start of Thanksgiving Day. Sephora Sales Events Throughout the Year - January: New Year’s Promotion for loyalty program members (Rouge & VIB members). - February: Fragrance Promotion: Earn 2x to 3x points on perfumes and select fragrances. - April: Spring Savings Event: 10% to 20% off for Beauty Insider (loyalty program) members. - May: 3x points on perfume and Memorial Day promotions. - June: Sephora Fall VIB Preview Sale. - August: 2x, 3x, or 4x points on all purchases for BI, VIB, and Rouge members and a Sephora VIB Bonus Event. - Early November: Fall Sephora VIB Sale. - Late November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. - December:Deluxe samples available and an extra 20% off sale items. What are the best Black Friday deals at Sephora? Based on Sephora’s Black Friday ad and sales from 2020 and 2019, we have a good idea of what to expect from Sephora this year when Black Friday rolls ’round. In addition to gift-shopping, it’s the perfect time to stock up on your favorite skin, hair, and beauty products. You won’t want to miss the best prices. - $24.50 Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes (reg. $49) - $15 FirstAid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration (reg. $42) - $60 Limited Edition Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Eye and Lip Set (reg. $87) - $10 Urban Decay Perversion Mascara (reg. $25) - $15 Kiel’s Since 1851 Ultra Facial Cleanser (reg. $34) - $45 Living Proof Perfect Day Silicone Detox Full Size Kit (reg. $93) - $26 Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer (reg. $52) - $15.50 Bumble and bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Shampoo - $9 Fenty Beauty Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick (reg. $18) - $15 Lily Lashes Living My Best Life (reg. $30) - $20 Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Long Wear Foundation (reg. $40) - $25 Givenchy Rouge Interedit Satin Lipstick (reg. $34) - $14 Kosas 10-Second Liquid Eyeshadow (reg. $14) - $52 Ole Henriksen 3 Little Wonders (reg. $74) - $48 Nurse Jamie Uplift Massaging Beauty Roller (reg. $48) - $20 Benefit Cosmetics Feathered & Full Brow Set (reg. $34) - $9 Pat McGrath Labs EYEdols Eye Shadow in Rose Venus (reg. $25) - $37 Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Match Stix Trio (reg. $54) - $50 Pat McGrath Dark Star 006 (reg. $130) - $14 Mario Badescu The Ions: Drying Lotion & Rose Facial Spray Duo - $18 Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Glossy Posse Mini Gloss Bomb Set: Holo’daze Edition (reg. $36) - $20 Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer Lip Gloss (reg. $28) - $150 Amika Jack of All Curls (reg. $250) - $18 Kosas Mini Wet Set Clean Lip Oil Trio (reg. $25) - $40 Aether Beauty Amethyst Crystal Gemstone Eyeshadow Palette (reg. $58) - $34 Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Moisture from Head to Toe Set (reg. $48) - $20 Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser (reg. $28) - $44 Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Powder Duo (reg. $88) - $99 DevaCurl DEVADRYER & DEVAFUSER Dryer & Diffuser Combo for All Curl Kinds (reg. $159) - $26 Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte (reg. $38) - $33 Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Palette (reg. 65) - $20 Anastasia Beverly Hills Sun Dipped Glow Kit (reg. $40) - $15 Tower 28 Beauty Mini Juicy All the Way Juicy Lip Set (reg. $20) Does Sephora Canada do Black Friday? Yes, Sephora Canada has major Black Friday sales every year in store and on the Canadian Sephora.ca site. - Save up to 50% off hundreds of featured products - FREE Shipping - FREE Samples Popular brands included in Sephora’s Black Friday Canada sale include La Mer, Urban Decay, Nudestix, Too Faced, and BareMinerals. What makeup brands have Black Friday sales? In addition to Sephora, a number of other cosmetic retailers and makeup brands have Black Friday sales. With all the makeup brands resellers, there are thousands of Black Friday sales available. Below is a list of some of the juiciest and most popular deals. When you shop at Sephora.com, through Swagbucks, you can earn cash back rebates of 1% to 10% as well as a free $10 gift card on your first purchase of $25 or more. The free $10 gift card is for new members of Swagbucks, or existing members making their first purchase in the Swagbucks shopping portal. You can earn the same 1% to 10% cash back rebates AND free $10 gift card from shopping any of these other makeup brands and cosmetic retailers through Swagbucks in this list below. Makeup Brands and Cosmetic Retailers with Black Friday Sales - Urban Decay - Bobbi Brown - Elf Cosmetics (e.l.f Cosmetics) - Laura Mercier - Elizabeth Arden - Too Faced Cosmetics - IT Cosmetics - Charlotte Tilbury - Soko Glam - tarte Cosmetics - La Mer - Kate Somerville - stila Cosmetics - Benefit Cosmetics - NYX Professional Makeup - Estee Lauder - Milk Makeup - Winky Lux - BH Cosmetics The free $10 gift card is for new members of Swagbucks, or existing members making their first purchase in the Swagbucks shopping portal. If you’re not a member of Swagbucks, it’s free to join and takes fewer than 60 seconds to sign up. Any Swagbucks member can earn cash back for shopping at the makeup brands and retailers listed above. Cash back accounts can vary. 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Other retailers and hot deals you should hit up during the holiday season include: - Academy Black Friday - Amazon Black Friday - Bed Bath and Beyond Black Friday - Bath and Body Works Black Friday - Best Buy Black Friday - Cabela’s Black Friday - Costco Black Friday - Dell Black Friday - GameStop Black Friday - Harbor Freight Black Friday - Hobby Lobby Black Friday - Home Depot Black Friday - Hulu Black Friday - IKEA Black Friday - JCPenney Black Friday - Kohl’s Black Friday - Lowe’s Black Friday - Lululemon Black Friday - Macy’s Black Friday - Menards Black Friday - Newegg Black Friday - Nike Black Friday - Old Navy Black Friday - Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Black Friday - Sam’s Club Black Friday - Sephora Black Friday - Staples Black Friday - Steam Sale for Black Friday - Target Black Friday - Tractor Supply Black Friday - T-Mobile Black Friday - Ulta Black Friday - UGG Black Friday - Vans Black Friday - Verizon Black Friday - Victoria’s Secret Black Friday - Walmart Black Friday - Wayfair Black Friday - Yeti Black Friday - Black Friday Airpod Deals - Black Friday Apple Deals - Black Friday iPad Deals - Black Friday Laptop Deals - Black Friday Gaming Chairs - Black Friday Phone Deals - Black Friday PS4 Deals - Black Friday TV Deals - Nintendo Switch Black Friday - How Do Cash back Sites & Apps Work? - Chime is the Bank of the Future: Do it All from Your Couch - Customer Service In The Mobile Era: Finding Remote Customer Service Positions - 20 Ways to Save Even More Every Timme You Shop at Old Navy - All You Need to Know About GoodRx for Pets - How to Make Money from Writing Poetry - Hulu Coupons & Promo Codes Aren’t the Best Way to Sign Up - The 20 Most Frequently Asked Questions from Google Searchers - Mystery Shopping: How to Make Money & Avoid Scams - 10 Ways to Make Free Money Online Today - How to Make Money on Etsy: What to Sell & How to Start - The Home Depot Cashback & Coupon Code Deal Hack
Two nuns have a message for Catholics angry about their ministry to immigrants: ‘We don’t have any intention of stopping.’ The angry emails and phone calls have been pouring in this week, and Donna Markham, O.P., the president and C.E.O. of Catholic Charities USA, has been among C.C.U.S.A. staff shocked by all the vitriol. “We certainly have received hateful, hateful calls from people who say they are Catholics,” Sister Markham said, “and speaking to us in language that I would never repeat and threatening our agencies. It’s a very sad situation.” The unpleasantness followed quickly in the wake of press releases and news reports about a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the political action groups Judicial Watch and CatholicVote. The suit demands records of communication between the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and of Health and Human Services “with Catholic organizations near the Texas border that were aiding illegal immigrants.” “We certainly have received hateful, hateful calls from people who say they are Catholics and speaking to us in language that I would never repeat and threatening our agencies. It’s a very sad situation.” “I’m mystified by any group that would call itself Catholic that is attacking the Catholic Church and its ministry,” Sister Markham said. “Our work with those who are poor takes its impetus, really, from our Catholic faith, and the Gospel mandate that calls all of us for over 2,000 years, especially as Catholics, to care for those who are vulnerable, homeless, hungry and suffering. “It’s Matthew 25,” Sister Markham added. “And Catholic Charities in particular has been doing this since 1910. This is really our identity, and we don’t have any intention of stopping this ministry. “Our work is humanitarian,” she added. “It is not political. It is grounded in our faith.” Fueling the furious phone calls have been recent coverage and commentary from Fox News and other media, which purport that C.C.U.S.A. and other faith-based humanitarian groups encourage migration to the United States by providing aid at the border. The attacks include commentary from a Texas member of Congress who charged that C.C.U.S.A., which he called the “biggest villain of them all,” has been engaged in what amounts to human trafficking. “Nonprofit groups operating a secretive, taxpayer-funded and likely illegal operation must be honest and transparent about their role in exacerbating the border crisis,” Texas Republican Lance Gooden told Fox News Digital. Norma Pimentel, M.J., the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville, Tex., has become a primary focus of the ire of anti-migrant forces. “The claims made by the congressman show a lack of knowledge and understanding on his part of immigration law and our work here on the U.S.-Mexico border,” Sister Pimentel countered in an email to America, adding, “I invite the congressman to come here and visit with me and see what we do firsthand.” The unassuming entrance to the Rio Grande office’s Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Tex., is now a regular backdrop for anti-immigrant and right-wing commentators intent on associating Catholic Charities’ assistance to migrants with human-smuggling or even a murky conspiracy to alter political realities in the United States with immigrants from Latin America. Sister Donna Markham: “I’m mystified by any group that would call itself Catholic that is attacking the Catholic Church and its ministry.” “It is outrageous to think that our work is driving the immigration numbers,” Sister Pimentel said. “Do you really think that people are uprooting themselves, putting themselves in danger as they undertake a difficult journey just so that they can come to our respite center to take a bath and have a meal or sleep on a mat? “They are leaving dire circumstances back in their home countries,” she said, “risking everything to come here with the hope that they can find a safe place to raise their families. Government policy determines whether they enter or not.” “Restoring human dignity,” Sister Pimentel said, “that is what we are doing. Once the federal government determines the immigrant families can enter this country, we simply offer humanitarian assistance in their time of crisis.” As wild accusations of people-smuggling circulate on social media, Sister Markham explained that Catholic Charities “does not enter into this situation until an individual or family has been processed” through the Department of Homeland Security. C.C.U.S.A. has provided food, clothing and a chance for rest to migrants who have had applications for asylum accepted and who now await a court hearing. The agency has also assisted in getting those families and individuals to cities where they will connect with U.S. sponsors and where their applications for asylum will be adjudicated. Sister Pimentel: “Restoring human dignity; that is what we are doing. Once the government determines the immigrant families can enter this country, we simply offer humanitarian assistance in their time of crisis.” “When they’re released [by Border Patrol], that’s when Catholic Charities enters into the humanitarian work,” she said. “The government agencies often will bring the migrants to our facilities, or to the Lutherans’ facilities or to the Jewish facilities, because those faith communities are also involved in this humanitarian work.” Allegations that assisting migrants represents a profit-making opportunity are part of the misinformation C.C.U.S.A. has been forced to contend with. Sister Markham tried to set the record straight: “Most of the work that we do is sponsored through private donations. And some small part of that is reimbursement by federal grants back to us after we do get [asylum applicants] settled. “We have to raise some money, help them get where they’re going, and then the government reimburses a certain portion of their food, their shelter, [and a] minimum amount of their travel.” Sister Markham is at a loss to explain the flare-up of attention now on work that C.C.U.S.A. has been associated with for decades. C.C.U.S.A.’s outreach on behalf of migrants and refugees has been a consistent component of its historical social service efforts, she explained. “We’ve certainly been respected by various administrations on both sides of the aisle [for our work], so this is puzzling to me. “I think we have to acknowledge that our U.S. immigration system is really broken, and I think that this situation at the border is, quite frankly, very, very disturbing, and we need to fix it,” she said. “I wish that instead of taking shots at the people that have been affected by it, that we would try to direct our energies toward fixing it. “No administration has been able to really accomplish that to date…. All of us are trying to do the best we can within a broken system.” Sister Pimentel: “Do you really think that people are uprooting themselves, putting themselves in danger just so that they can come to our respite center to take a bath and have a meal or sleep on a mat?” In 2021 a record 1.9 million arrests at the border were made by the Border Patrol. Many of those arrested—27 percent—were responsible for multiple crossing attempts and about one million of those detained were immediately expelled, but 400,000 others, primarily unaccompanied minors and families, have been permitted to stay in the United States while their asylum claims are processed. A border where thousands arrive year upon year exhausted, hungry and increasingly threatened by criminal gangs makes a poor location to attempt to “fix” the U.S. immigration system, according to Sister Markham. “It has to be a much larger endeavor, and I know that various administrations have tried, and continue to try, but certainly in the short term, I would hope that Congress would pass the American Dream and Promise Act at least to establish a path to citizenship for the migrant youth and [Temporary Protected Status] holders, at least to get that part regulated.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that the social service efforts of C.C.U.S.A. are undertaken “in tandem with the church’s longstanding call for comprehensive immigration reform.” “The Catholic Church teaches that we must welcome the newcomer and accompany them, while also respecting the right and responsibility of our country to control our borders,” the spokesperson said. “The work being done by the church’s social service ministries at the U.S.-Mexico border and elsewhere upholds the dignity of human life and is carried out in accordance with the law and in close cooperation with many entities of good will including local, state and federal governments.” According to Sister Pimentel, the Rio Grande Catholic Charities office works in close collaboration with local and federal law enforcement to “address the needs of our community, especially in relation to immigrants.” She added, “I greatly respect the fine men and women in law enforcement whom we work with. They keep our border safe, and together with many others, we all do our part to uphold the dignity and respect of life, especially the most vulnerable in our community who are hurting.” The families and individuals who come to the center, frequently dropped off by Border Patrol agents themselves, have the opportunity there to contact family members and sponsors so that they can make their travel arrangements. “While they wait for confirmation from their families, they have an opportunity to shower, get clean clothing, eat and rest,” Sister Norma said. “As a Catholic, I firmly believe that God desires that we care for our brothers and sisters in need, those who are suffering,” she said. “My focus remains unshaken. I refuse to be distracted from helping others. I am consoled and inspired by those who do support the work we do, who care for those who suffer and who stand up and protect and defend those in need. “There is nothing wrong with feeding the hungry and providing care for those here in our country,” Sister Pimentel said. “We do it because the Lord asks us to.”
Who Are You Looking For? “Who are you looking for?” It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? Maybe someone has asked you that while you scan the stage to see where your child is standing for the concert or scan the court or field looking for her. Maybe someone has asked you that question when you walked into an office you have never been in, looking for a particular doctor or loan officer or the like. Maybe you have been asked that as you are scanning the crowd of people coming through security at the airport, excitedly trying to find the person you love who is coming home. There may even have been a time when you were asked that by a clerk at a store or a theme park or zoo as they saw you panicked and searching for your child who wandered off. There are lots of different times we find ourselves searching for someone—maybe we are searching for love or searching for a good friend. Perhaps we are searching for a new contractor or a new dentist. Those can all be good and necessary pursuits—there is nothing necessarily wrong with any of those things. However, as we look at the resurrection account this morning, we find Jesus asking that same question: “Who are you seeking?” I want to ask you that same question this morning. In light of the events of Easter, I want to challenge you to seek the risen Savior most of all. As we look through John’s account of the day Jesus rose from the dead, we are going to see at least three different groups of people who demonstrated that they were seeking Jesus. Their example will help us see what it looks like to seek after Jesus. We are picking up at the end of John 19:38-42, which puts us right after the events we concluded with on Friday night. Jesus had been put on a cross to die. He declared that he had finished the work necessary to pay for our sins, and then he died. We didn’t read this Friday night, but they confirmed that he was dead by putting a spear in his side. With Jesus now dead, it seemed like everything was over for the disciples and those who had hoped in Christ. Yet, even in these verses, we find people seeking the Savior who would rise. Read through them with me... As we look at Joseph and Nicodemus, we are challenged to seek the Savior even... 1) When it is costly. 1) When it is costly. This really is a beautiful passage of Scripture. Jesus is dead, and in those days, the family and friends would have been responsible for the burial. As we said Friday night, Mary was likely a widower and Jesus didn’t have any real money to his name, so they were likely fairly poor. A man named Joseph of Arimathea comes forward to offer his tomb for Jesus’s burial. John tells us he was a secret disciple of Jesus, meaning he followed Jesus but didn’t want anyone else to know. That was important because, when you put together everything the other gospel writers say about this man, you find that he was a wealthy member of the Jewish council—you know, the group that just had Jesus put to death. If he had publicly outed himself as a disciple, he risked his reputation, his influence, and possibly even his life. Yet, now that he has watched Jesus die, he cannot stay secret anymore. He offers his own tomb as the place where they can lay Jesus’s body to rest. What Joseph couldn’t have fully understood was that Jesus only needed to borrow that tomb for a few days; he wouldn’t be in there long. However, Joseph sought to honor Jesus, even when it was costly. It would cost him his reputation, it would cost him his influence, he became ceremonially unclean because he touched a dead body, and it even cost him financially to give up this fresh-cut tomb. Yet, for Joseph, it was worth it. This may be the first John had mentioned Joseph, but it isn’t the first time he mentioned his friend Nicodemus. In fact, this is the third time we have seen Nicodemus in the book of John. He too is a member of the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. In John 3, he is sneaking up to Jesus by the light of a fire, asking questions at night that he was too afraid to be seen asking Jesus. It is the conversation with Nicodemus where Jesus explains that he will be lifted up, just like he was on the cross. It was the conversation with Nicodemus that gave us the most familiar verse in the Bible: For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. We see Nicodemus in John 7. This time, he still isn’t willing to own that he is a follower of Jesus, but he is at least defending him. However, just like Joseph, what Nicodemus has seen and heard has convinced him that Jesus is the Messiah God had promised to send to his people. He can’t stay silent anymore, so he brings a large amount of spices to use for Jesus’s burial. We don’t know what the process looked like for Joseph to come to Christ, and we only know a little bit of Nicodemus’s story, but here’s what we do see: when the time came, they were willing to seek Jesus no matter what it cost them. We are faced with that same question this morning: Am I willing to seek Jesus, even when it is costly? Let me promise you this: truly following Christ will cost you. It costs you the right to your own time, your right to your own possessions and finances, your right to your talents and abilities—all of those things are gifts from God, and seeking Christ is going to cost you. It may cost you friends, it may cost you money, and it may cost you any number of things. Are you willing, like Nicodemus and Joseph and countless others in the last 2,000 years, to seek Jesus when it is costly? Who are you seeking this morning? It is someone to validate you, someone to make your life easier, or is it the risen Savior who sacrificed himself for you and calls you to seek him? Now, we haven’t even gotten to the good part yet. By the end of chapter 19 Jesus is still dead. Let’s pick up in chapter 20:1-10 and see that we need to seek Jesus... 2) When it is surprising. 2) When it is surprising. Everything about this story is surprising. The morning hasn’t even hardly gotten underway, and the ladies are already en route to the tomb to properly prepare Jesus’s body to be laid to rest. However, when they arrive, Mary Magdalene finds the stone rolled away. She runs and finds Peter and “the other disciple”—again, likely John— and tells them that someone has stolen Jesus’s body. What happens next is kinda funny. Peter and John take off running, but tradition tells us that Peter was one of the older disciples and John was the youngest. So, John takes off and gets their first. He stops at the door and looks in and sees the linen cloths lying on the floor of the tomb. So, not only did someone steal the body, they unwrapped it first? You can almost picture him as he is sitting there, trying to make sense of it all, when Peter catches up. He isn’t content to stand there and look, he barrels past John and goes into the tomb to see for himself. I love the eyewitness detail in verse 7... When Jesus rose from the dead, the linen cloths that wrapped his body seems to have fallen off, but the one covering his head got folded up neatly to the side. We can barely wrap our minds about what happened that day, but isn’t it cool to think about either Jesus or one of the angels folding that and laying it aside? Jesus has risen, and he is never going to need that stained cloth again! However, this isn’t a rush job where they had to hurry and hide. Instead, it is folded neatly and laid aside. Now, look at verse 8... John steps into the tomb, takes it all in, and the Bible says he believes. Verse 9 indicates that they didn’t fully understand what Jesus had said he would do, or what the Old Testament taught about the Messiah’s resurrection. However, at that moment, it seems that John began to believe that Jesus had truly risen from the dead. He may not have understood it all, but in the middle of the surprise of the empty tomb, John believed. This story may be incredibly familiar to you, so some of the surprise and shock has worn off. However, if you are here this morning or listening online and this story is new to you, I hope you are surprised by what you hear. So often, Christianity is presented as a list of behaviors you should and shouldn’t do, and it is reduced down to a political party or a checklist of issues. However, here’s the core of what Christianity is all about: you and I have done things God told us not to do and not done things God told us to do. The Bible calls that sin. Because of our sin, we have built up a debt to God that literally kills our souls, and there is no way for us to fix that on our own. God knew that, and he loved us so much that he would send his own Son, Jesus, as God in the flesh, to take the penalty for your sin and mine by dying on the cross. When he rose from the dead and came out of that tomb before Mary and Peter and John and the others arrived, he showed that he had conquered death, having paid for my sin and yours. Now, in exchange for your death, he offers you his life. We already said that following Christ is costly, but it pales in comparison to what it cost him. We are saved, made alive, made right with God, not because we do good things but because Jesus has paid our debt and made us alive. Now, we do good things to honor him and live like he created us to live, not to earn what we don’t have. That’s the surprising truth of Easter—the tomb was empty because Jesus overcame death itself, not because someone simply stole the body away. In light of that surprise, let me again challenge you to seek the risen Savior. We may not have the physical tomb in front of us, but we have the accounts of the men and women who were there, and we believe Jesus has truly been raised. Seek the one who surprised the world by walking out of that tomb. Having talked about his own experience at the tomb, John returns to Mary’s story. We want to see one more person who sought Jesus that day, and through her example, we want to seek Jesus... 3) When he calls you. 3) When he calls you. Now, imagine being Mary for just a minute here. You came with your friends to do what you could to honor Jesus, and all of a sudden, you find him gone. She runs off, finds Peter and John, and they beat her in the race back to the tomb. It appears they left, and Mary is there at the tomb, crying, confused, and hurting. Pick up in verse 11... When she looks in, she doesn’t just see the cloths, she sees angels! From the way she responds, it doesn’t seem that she even catches what is going on. She certainly doesn’t respond like people typically do when angels appear. Now, read verse 14-16... Oh, can you even imagine this? We don’t know why she didn’t recognize him, but we know that through her tears, Mary doesn’t understand who she is talking to at first. Here’s our question, isn’t it— “Who are you seeking?” I mentioned in the introduction, but this is the exact same question Jesus asked in the garden when he was arrested. However, the context is completely different. In the garden before the crucifixion, the crowd was seeking Jesus to kill him. Now, in the garden after his resurrection, Mary is seeking Jesus to honor him. She just wants to see to it that this man who saved her and meant so much to her got a proper burial. Do you see Jesus’s response here? He doesn’t respond with the powerful “I AM” statement he made in the garden that made the soldiers trip over their own feet and fall back. Instead, he responds simply by calling her by name. Some of the first words Jesus spoke after he changed the course of history by rising from the dead were to call one of his followers by their name. For me, this takes me back to John 10, where Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd whose sheep know his voice and follow him. Remember, he said My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. That’s exactly what we see here. When he has just overcome the effects of sin on the world, reversing the curse it brought on all creation and proving himself to be the God who is in charge over it all, he calls to one of his sheep by name. He knows Mary. He knows what she has done, he knows what she will do, and he knows that she is his sheep. What a beautiful picture is this! Out of all the things Jesus could do after rising from the grave, he takes time to comfort one of his sheep. As Warren Wiersbe points out in his commentary, there isn’t any rebuke in Jesus’s words here. He simply called her by name and let her see that it was him. Overwhelmed, Mary simply replies and calls him “Teacher,” because that is how she knew him. He was the one who had taught her who God is and now, he is the one who rose from the grave to save her and show that he was unlike anything that had ever been created. She clings to his feet, and Jesus tells her that he has to go, but he sends her off on a mission. She goes off and does exactly what Jesus told her to do. Look at verse 18... She went and did exactly what Jesus told her to do. Can you imagine how different this was from the first time she showed up? In the early morning, she arrives frantic, heartbroken, and in pain because Jesus was missing. Now, she returns in joy, not because she found Jesus but because he found her! She was seeking him, but Jesus came and found her, not the other way around. Listen: this is what happens any time a person gets saved. God draws us to himself, God pursues us and invites us to follow him. You and I aren’t likely to hear an audible voice from God calling you by name, but the same God who called Mary by name in the garden is the one who calls you to himself today. Are you seeking him? Are you living your life to honor the risen Savior who sought you when you were still a sinner and rebelling against him? If you are here this morning and have never surrendered to Christ, you might be wondering how you can know if he is calling you to himself. Let me put it this way: if you are here, and you are understanding these things in a way you never have before, that’s something only God can do. If you are sensing a conviction that is calling you to stop trying to live your way and call out to Jesus for salvation, then you can trust that Jesus is calling you to himself. Surrender to him today and find the life that only he can give. It is costly, and it is surprising, but it is worth it to know that you are following the God who called you to himself. If you have been saved, are you still seeking him, or have you grown cold in your desire to serve him? Why not let this day when we celebrate Christ’s resurrection be a day of renewed passion and zeal in your heart for Christ.
With dim sum restaurant closures and empty senior centers, some worry Brooklyn’s Sunset Park may never recover. The Eighth Avenue subway station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park is emptier than usual. Walking in the neighborhood that’s home to 74,600 immigrants,the once-familiar view of people crowding the sidewalks, carrying red plastic bags from Chinese grocery stores, is no more. Pedestrians have dwindled to small numbers. Almost everyone is wearing a protective medical face mask. Street vendors, selling fresh fruits and vegetables, compete with one another, eager for customers. Employees in small shops look out in the streets, anxiously waiting for someone to walk in. Sunset Park, in southwest Brooklyn, houses New York City’s largest Chinese community. After being crowded out of Manhattan’s Chinatown more than two decades ago, Chinese immigrants have settled and built their lives here. People from all over the city flock to the vibrant district to buy fresh meat and vegetables, shop in mom-and-pop stores, and eat at beloved dim sum restaurants. But all that has changed in the past few months, as the novel coronavirus outbreak has caused global anxiety. Since the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, late last year, Chinese communities and Asians across the world have been the target of a sudden rise in anti-Asian racism and xenophobia. There have been innumerable reports of physical and verbal attacks against Asians as well as misinformation and harmful imagery online that play into stereotypes.The xenophobia — compounded with general fears of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus — has taken a great toll on the livelihoods of Chinese immigrants and workers, especially those in smaller communities. “It’s a reminder of how quick people try to herald us as model minorities but also how quickly they will remind us where we are,” Whitney Hu, a local organizer who recently announced her run for city council, told Vox. “You come to a place like New York City, and you assume you’re free from all the bullying because it’s multicultural, but then you realize that the solidarity isn’t there and how quickly people isolate themselves when a crisis like this comes up.” Just this week, many of Sunset Park’s famous dim sum restaurants decided to temporarily close down, as the number of customers and profits dropped drastically. Pacificana, one of the only large dim sum halls that’s still running in the area, remains hopeful that business will pick back up. In the meantime, it’s been cutting staff and possibly business hours. March is usually a busy month for the restaurant, especially for weddings, but because of the virus, people have canceled events, leaving them with only one wedding at the end of the month. “Lunch is usually very busy and packed,” one Pacificana employee told Vox, “But as you can see,” gesturing into a large and empty dining hall, “No one is here. I feel like we lost about 90 percent, or maybe more, of our customers.” Because businesses are taking a financial hit, Hu and a group of people have decided to organize Chinatown food crawls to support Chinese restaurants. The group initially started in Manhattan’s Chinatown; then, a few weeks ago, Hu invited them over to Sunset Park to eat at Pacificana. What struck her the most was how quickly they got a table for a group of 30 people with no reservations on a Friday night. “Sunset Park, on Eighth Avenue, I’ve noticed, has become quieter. Less people are out,” said Hu. “I do think I see the same neighbors and shop owners out and about, but I don’t see the visitors or tourists who would often come and visit.” Xenophobia has led to a loss of business and a fear to get help Early this month, New York City Chinatown officials held a press conference addressing the rise in “xenophobic hysteria” against Asians, as more discriminatory acts were being reported. In a viral video, a man on the subway yelled at an Asian man to move somewhere else, then sprayed him with Febreze. But it’s not just New York City — anti-Asian xenophobia and racism have become a bigger issue around the world as a result of Covid-19. As Nylah Burton reported for Vox, in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Toronto, East Asians have been targeted — from racist comments made by TSA agents to verbal street harassment. Meanwhile, Chinese restaurants across the globe say they are struggling for business because of widespread misconceptions about the “cleanliness” of their food. “We have not yet even confirmed a case of the coronavirus in our communities,” Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou said at the New York Chinatown press conference. “We are undergoing this kind of treatment even though every single one of our restaurants, our businesses, have the same safety inspections, commercial standards, and health codes as anyone. But people continue to spread messages, urging others to avoid Asian American restaurants or businesses.” Restaurants and grocers aren’t the only places being less frequented. The Academy of Medical and Public Health Services (AMPHS), a nonprofit health service organization that helps underserved immigrant communities with primary care and social assistance in Sunset Park, has also seen a drop in visitor and attendance numbers. AMPHS offers free health services such as consultations and physical therapy, regardless of documentation status or insurance. It also has an education program, where it offers literacy and language courses catered to immigrant communities who can’t understand or speak English. “Usually, our classes are full,” said Mon Yuck Yu, the executive vice president and chief of staff for AMPHS. “We typically have about 15 to 20 students going to class, but since the coronavirus broke out, we have seen a decrease in our numbers. We even had a class where only one student showed up.” AMPHS also works with a senior center that’s typically roaring with Chinese seniors playing mahjong and socializing. Most days, they also come for free meals. But the center has since been deserted as the outbreak has escalated. Older Chinese people are now self-quarantining at home for protection, Yu said (the CDC has advised anyone over 60 to “stay close to home”). Many are also refusing to use public transit to avoid not only the possibility of getting the virus but also potential racist attacks. The difference is drastic traveling from Manhattan to Sunset Park, where people wearing face masks begin to emerge as the N train nears the Eighth Avenue station. While in some countries wearing a face mask is a cultural tradition, here in the US, face masks have come to be a symbol of fear and anxiety. And for immigrant communities like those in Sunset Park, masks have taken on an extra meaning. “Right now, the reason people wear face masks is because they want to be proactively doing something to prevent the disease knowing that we can’t get a vaccination,” said Yu. “But many community members have started to associate wearing face masks with xenophobia, so they avoid doing so [when they leave Sunset Park], because they don’t want to be attacked or discriminated against.” Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the area’s residents had already been on edge, battling fears of the heightened raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Just last year, ICE agents attempted several raids in the neighborhood, prompting residents to stay indoors. “A part of me is worried that the suppression tactics used by the federal government, such as ICE raids, are also going to impact people seeking help if they are showing symptoms of something more serious,” said Hu. “For us in Sunset Park, there’s a lot of diligence and making sure that we know who to trust and what service providers are doing and where we can seek help.” Meanwhile, Yu said that AMPHS is working hard to send important information to communities that are hard to reach, which include undocumented individuals, new immigrants, and those who can’t speak or comprehend English. The organization is launching initiatives to find these individuals, primarily by sending messages on social platforms they frequently use — like WeChat — so they can constantly receive new and important information. AMPHS also plans to post flyers and posters across the neighborhood informing community members how to best prepare for the crisis and whom to reach out to. With all the social distancing and people working from home, the group visiting Chinese-owned restaurantsplans to have a virtual meeting on Sunday to figure out next steps. For now, Hu wants to get vital information translated into Chinese, as the city announced its plans to offer emergency loans with no interest to small businesses. In the meantime, worries are amplifying, and optimism is fading in the community. The evening after I visited Pacificana, Hu and a group planned to have dinner there again, but they found the doors were locked when they arrived at 7 pm, even though the restaurant closes at 11. Eighth Avenue, she noticed, was also oddly quiet and empty. “The future is going to be painful,” Hu said. “I know we’re going to see the long-term economic impacts of what that looks like, whether that’s some of our favorite restaurants not opening back up” or other effects. “It’s going to be a big economic hit.” Rachel Ramirez is a reporter covering environmental justice, science, and business. She was born and raised in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean. Her work has appeared in Grist, the Financial Times, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, and other publications. Find her on Twitter @rachjuramirez.
While you might think you just need a gutter system to be installed on your roof so that you can keep water away from its structures, this is not enough. You also need to ensure you have roof flashing. Why is roof flashing so important? Roof flashing helps to push water into the gutters so that it can reach the ground instead of accumulating on the roof where it can cause problems such as ice dams, mold, and mildew. Let’s explore everything you need to know about roof flashing. We’ll also give you tips on how to install it properly to keep your roof in excellent condition. What Is Roof Flashing? Roof flashing is a strip of metal that’s installed on the roof to direct rainwater away from areas of your roof, such as your walls and chimney, to ensure that you prevent water from accumulating on the roof and damaging its structure. This also protects your home against water damage. Types Of Roof Flashing There are many different types of roof flashing to strengthen your roof structure. These include the following: Continuous flashing. This is called apron flashing and it’s a single, long piece of metal that diverts water down to the shingles. It covers a joint, such as where the roof meets a wall of siding. Base flashing. This includes two pieces of flashing that is used for roof structures such as chimneys. Base flashing guarantees that water meets a flashing surface wherever it falls so that it will be transported downard. Counter flashing. This type of flashing is placed on the opposite side of, or above, base flashing. Step flashing. This is flashing that’s rectangular in shape. It’s bent in the middle and is used for wall flashing. It has a scale-like design so that the pieces of flashing overlap each other and slip underneath the shingles. It’s mainly used where a wall meets the roof. Valley flashing. Valleys on the roof need to have metal flashing installed on them to protect them. Valleys are a part of the roof that accumulate a lot of water. Skylight flashing. This type of flashing is usually purchased with your new skylight. It protects the skylight and surrounding roof from water damage. If it’s not provided, you’ll have to purchase the skylight flashing separately. Kickout flashing. This is placed at the start of gutters to draw water away from the wall so that it can enter the gutters properly. Drip edge flashing. This is flashing that’s placed on the roof edge. It draws water off the roof without it splashing onto the home’s walls or causing any leaks that can result in water damage. What Metals Are Roof Flashing Made Of? There are different metals that can be used to make roof flashing. Let’s take a look at their pros and cons. Aluminum is easy to shape and use, especially because it’s lightweight. Aluminum needs to be coated if it’s used with masonry and concrete, though, and this is because aluminum reacts with alkaline surfaces. If you live in a coastal area, aluminum flashing needs to be coated to prevent corrosion from the moisture in the air. Another popular metal for flashing is copper. It’s flexible and easy to shape, and can be soldered without a problem. Copper is durable, but it does develop a patina which might not be to everyone’s tastes. Steel is the go-to metal used to make flashing for the roof. This is not just because of how durable it is but it’s flexible, malleable, and can be made resistant to corrosion by being galvanized. What about plastic flashing? You can find some flashing products that are made out of plastic, but this is not usually recommended. Although plastic is more affordable than metal flashing, it degrades over time when exposed to direct sunlight so it won’t last as long as metal flashing. Types Of Roof Flashing Sealant Some roofing professionals will use nails when installing flashing, but this isn’t always possible. It can cause damage to the roofing structure, so they rely on sealants instead. There are different types of flashing sealants available, such as the following. This is a popular type of sealant used in the construction industry because it’s readily available and cheap to buy. You can buy this sealant in a plastic tube or as a tape-roll product. While it works, it’s not as flexible as other sealant products you can buy. Silicone sealants work well to seal flashing effectively because they cure when exposed to moisture. They are clear and can therefore be used with lots of colorful building materials without standing out like a sore thumb. However, they can also be pigmented if you want to match the silicone to the flashing. What’s great about silicone sealants is that they cure at a fast rate. This is another good choice for sealants. It comes in a variety of colors so you can match it to your roof. It doesn’t take a long time to set, which makes it user-friendly. However, if you live in an area where temperatures are extreme and fluctuate a lot, or you experience intense weather patterns, this sealant can deteriorate at a faster rate. This is a versatile sealant that will accommodate a variety of flashing materials. Roofing cement contains a blend of mineral spirits, asphalt, plasticizers, and reinforcing fibers. This makes it suitable for a variety of dry and wet applications, which is why it’s such an essential item roofing contractors should have in their possession. Roofing cement can be used to seal down flashing or shingles. It’s strongly adhesive and works well to prevent leaks. Rubber makes sense for use as a roofing sealant because it is waterproof. It can be water-based to make it easy to apply so it’s not too thick. It provides good protection against sun and rain. Rubber sealants are not only durable but also flexible, which means they work well to resist crumbling and cracking, even when dealt with extreme temperatures. Modified polyether sealant This sealant hasn’t been around for as long as some other sealants, but it’s made from modified silicone which has many advantages. These include how you’re able to apply the flashing sealant with a gun, which makes your roofing tasks go faster. Polyether is resilient and can be used in very cold temperatures. How To Install Roof Flashing Whether you want to DIY your roof flashing installation or you’re leaving it up to the pros but you’re interested in knowing how it gets applied to your roof, here’s what you need to know about installing flashing on a new roof system. You will have to start by installing underlayment beneath your roof shingles. This is because the shingles have to overlay the flashing. Start with installing corner flashing as this needs to be laid down first so that you’ll be able to install the kickout or step flashing from the bottom all the way up. The kickout flashing will be installed at the base of the roof and kept in place with roof cement. Place the first shingle so that it sits on the starter strip and the kickout flashing will be secured with the roofing cement and nails. Ensure that the nails are placed high up on the shingles so that they will be covered by the next piece of flashing. Place the shingles over kickout flashing, then keep going until you reach the top of the roof. Cut and fit the flashing and shingles to the peak of your roof. They both have to be bent over the peak so that they are curved. This will ensure that the joints are watertight. The flashing needs to be covered halfway by shingles. The other half will be covered by siding. How To Repair Roof Flashing Leaks If your flashing is damaged and leaking, you will have to repair it. You can do this easily if the area of damage is small, such as if the flashing has a corroded spot or there’s a small hole in it. You’ll have to add sealant, such as roofing cement, to the area to create a plug. Then, you can patch the holes with a patch made of the same material as the flashing you wish to repair. Make sure you first sand down the area around the hole you want to repair with some sandpaper and clean it well. Then, cut the patch so that it’s a bit larger than the size of the hole. Set it with roofing cement and cover the patch with more cement so that it gets properly sealed in. If you have flashing that is more damaged, you will have to replace it. To do this, several shingle rows and the old flashing will have to be removed, so calling a professional might be the best idea. Tips For Maintaining Your Roof Flashing To ensure your flashing has a longer lifespan, you should keep it in good condition. Here are some maintenance tips to follow. Regularly check the flashing for any crumbling or cracks. Repairing small damage will be much easier in this way. If your flashing is new, it can be very shiny so you want to paint it to make it blend in with the roof. This can also prevent corrosion from the flashing being exposed to sun and rain. Remove any debris, flaking paint, and rust with a stiff brush. Just make sure that if you’re using a solvent to clean the flashing you don’t let it come into contact with your asphalt shingles otherwise it can damage them. A good idea for keeping your flashing in good condition is to apply a zinc-based primer before spraying on two light coats of metal paint. This inhibits rust from forming. Do You Need To Replace Roof Flashing? You might not be sure if you need to replace your roof flashing. The most important thing is to look at the condition of your flashing. If it’s cracked or damaged in any other way, it’s a good idea to go ahead and replace it. If your flashing looks dirty, this isn’t a good enough reason to replace it. You can clean it to give it a new lease on life. If it’s very old, however, then it’s probably a good move to replace it. A smart time when to do so is if you’re replacing other roof components, because then replacing old flashing at the same time can be advantageous. How long does roof flashing last? Generally, roof flashing can last for between 20 and 35 years. Can you reuse roof flashing? You can sometimes re-use flashing, but it has to be in very good condition otherwise it will just be a waste of time and a possible liability for your roof. Roof flashing is an important piece of metal your roof needs to protect it against water damage. If you’re not sure how to properly install roof flashing, we’ve given you all the steps to follow so that you can do so successfully. We’ve also looked at how to repair roof flashing and how to tell when it’s time to replace it. James Weldon is a professional roofing contractor with many years of experience on the job. He does not only handle large projects and provide excellent services for his company’s many clients; James Weldon also dedicates his spare time to teaching others useful tricks of the trade. Using BuildCampus as an avenue to reach many roofers and aspiring roofing contractors, James Weldon continues to provide high-quality educational posts and buying recommendations for anyone who visits the website.
VIRGINIA KING BAZEMORE HAMPTON - Virginia King Bazemore, 83, died Thursday, July 4, 1996. She was a lifelong resident of Hampton, where she was a member of Central United Methodist Church, Circle #4 of the church, and the Comrade Sunday School Class. Mrs. Bazemore is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy B. and Frank Kearney III of Hampton; two grandchildren, Katherine Diggs and Frank Kearney IV, both of Hampton; four great-grandchildren; and two nieces. A graveside service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday, July 8, in Parklawn Memorial Park by the Rev. Kenneth Newsome. The family will receive friends 2:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday at the R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to Central United Methodist Church, 225 Chapel St., Hampton, Va. 23669. Arrangements by R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home in Hampton. DOROTHY BROWN BUTTS NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. - Dorothy Brown Butts, a Newport News native, departed this life Wednesday, July 3, 1996, in New York City, N.Y. She is survived by her mother, Ella M. Crocker, and brother, Willie Brown, both of Newport News; three daughters, Lisa Mae Ballard, Angela Butts and Yvonda Butts of New York; eight sons, James Butts, Glen Butts, Shawn Butts of New York, Ronald Butts, Shelton Butts, Terrance Butts of Alabama, Vaughn Butts and Tyrone Butts of Newport News; and a host of grandchildren, family and friends. A funeral service will be held Monday, July 8, at 1 p.m. in New York City. RALPH M. BYERS NEWPORT NEWS - Ralph "Tex" Mauney Byers, 75, died Friday, July 5, 1996. He was a native of Ranger, Texas, and had been a Peninsula resident since 1948. He was a veteran of World War II, where he served with the Army Signal Corps. He retired in 1980 from NASA after 32 years service as an electronic technician. "Tex" was an active manager with Deer Park Little League from 1960 until 1974 and was also active with Troop 14 of the Boy Scouts of America. He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping. He was an accomplished bowler and enjoyed cheering for his favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys. Mr. Byers was also a member of Temple Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy M. Byers; four sons, Richard R. Byers of Richmond, Daniel M. Byers of Bowie, Md., Bradley S. Byers of Lutherville, Md., and Matthew B. Byers of Blue Bell, Pa.; one brother, Carlton Byers of Pismo Beach, Calif.; seven grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, July 8, in the chapel of the W.J. Smith & Son Funeral Home with Dr. J. Walter Martin officiating. A visitation will be held Sunday, July 7, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home and also on Monday from 1 p.m. until the time of the service. Memorials may be made to Temple Baptist Church Building Fund, 235 Harpersville Road, Newport News, Va. 23601 or to Boy Scouts of America, Troop 14, 11725 Jefferson Ave., Newport News, Va. 23601. Arrangements by W.J. Smith & Son Funeral Home. JOHN A. CLEMONS SUFFOLK - John A. "Short Barber" Clemons, 85, a deacon at Little Mount Zion Baptist Church in Suffolk, died Thursday, July 4, 1996. Arrangements by Crocker Funeral Home. GWENDOLYN H. COSBY WILLIAMSBURG Gwendolyn H. Cosby, 76, died July 5, 1996. A native of Binghamton, N.Y., and formerly of Weymouth, Mass., Mrs. Cosby had been a Williamsburg resident for the past seven years. She was a member of the Williamsburg Chapter of the D.A.R. and the Christian Women's Club, and a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown. Mrs. Cosby is survived by two sons, Edmond D. Cosby and his wife, Kathryne "Kitty" of Williamsburg and John M. Cosby and his wife, Janis, of Nashua, N.H.; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, July 9, 2 p.m., at Grace Episcopal Church with the Rev. Carleton Bakkum officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation Monday, 7-8 p.m., at the Amory Funeral Home, Grafton. Memorials to Grace Episcopal Church, Building Fund, 111 Church St., Yorktown 23690. HAMPTON - Henrietta Green, wife of Melvin Green, died Friday, July 5, 1996. Arrangements by O.H. Smith & Son Funeral Home. NEWPORT NEWS - Andrew Hawkins, 32, died Tuesday, July 2, 1996, in Hungary. He was a native of Newport News and was serving his 14th year in the U.S. Army. He is survived by his wife, Amanda Hawkins of Georgetown, S.C., and three young sons; his father, Joseph Hawkins of Portsmouth; his mother, Mamie Lee Hawkins of Newport News; two sisters, Cerisa White of Newport News and Albetina Gibson of Virginia Beach; three brothers, Joseph Hawkins of Norfolk and James and Timothy Hawkins of Newport News; grandmother, Maxine Hawkins of Hampton; and other relatives. A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Georgetown, S.C. Arrangements by Wilds Funeral Home, 130 Merriman Road, Georgetown, S.C. WILLIAM C. HORAN GLOUCESTER - William Clifford Horan, a native of Bronx, N.Y., died at his home Friday, July 5, 1996. He was 69. He was a member of St. Therese Catholic Church in Gloucester. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sylvia Horan. He is survived by two daughters, Ann E. Nogle of Appomattox and Cynthia M. Horan of Toano; two sons, William C. Horan Jr. of Norfolk and Michael T. Horan of Chesapeake; and eight grandchildren, Clyde Covington, Christina Covington, Diane Covington, Joshua Nogle, Sylvia Nogle, William Horan, Thomas Horan and Adrienne Horan. A Mass of Christian burial, conducted by the Rev. John E. Ridgell, will be held Monday, July 8, at 10 a.m. at St. Therese Catholic Church. Interment will be at a later date. The family will receive friends at Hogg Funeral Home, Gloucester Point, Sunday from 7-8 p.m. Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to their favorite charity. NEWPORT NEWS - Elizabeth McQueen, 79, departed this earth on July 3, 1996. She was a native of Bennettsville, S.C., and was a faithful member of Gethsemane Baptist Church of Newport News. She worked 26 years at Gloria Manufacturing Company, retiring in 1983. She is survived by a daughter, Easter Winder of Newport News; three grandchildren, Philip, Kim and Gregory Winder; and 11 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Gethsemane Baptist Church by the Rev. Dwight Riddick. Burial will be in Hampton Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Franklin Funeral Home Chapel. Arrangements by Franklin Funeral Home. GASTONIA, N.C. - Kelvin "Lookie" Muskelly, 30, grandson of Willie Collins of Hampton, died Thursday, July 4, 1996. Arrangements by Richardson Funeral Home, Louisburg, N.C. J. NICHOLAS POWELL NEWPORT NEWS - John Nicholas Powell, infant son of John B. and Jane P. Powell, died Saturday, July 6, 1996. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his sister, Katherine J. Powell, at home; maternal grandparents, Larry and Patricia Painter; paternal grandparents, Myrna and Carleton Powell; and paternal great-grandmother, Martha Pinnell, all of Newport News. A private memorial service will be held with the Rev. Raymond L. Howell officiating. Memorials may be made to Hilton Baptist Church Building Fund, 101 Main St., Newport News, Va. 23601. Arrangements by W.J. Smith & Son Funeral Home. MURIEL P. RICKWOOD POQUOSON Muriel Priscilla Rickwood, 82, wife of the late George Rickwood, died Saturday, July 6, 1996. She was a native of Fitchburg, Mass., and had lived in Poquoson since 1991. She was the daughter of the late Frank A. and Ida M. Gilpin Harley of Fitchburg. Mrs. Rickwood was a graduate of Fitchburg High School, the New England School of Nursing, Boston, Mass., and New York University. She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and the Korean Conflict with overseas duty in Australia and New Guinea. Her nieces and nephews will always remember how proud she was to have served her country during that time. For many years, Mrs. Rickwood served in nursing supervisory and administrative positions in VA hospitals in Boston and Buffalo, N.Y. She attended Christ the King Episcopal Church in Tabb. She is survived by her nieces, Lois Johnson of Poquoson, Joan Colburn of Naples, N.C., and Gail Naimoli of Newton, Mass.; and her great-niece, Sara Johnson of Poquoson. She is also survived by her nephews, David Proctor of Darien, Conn., Alan Proctor of Lakeville, Conn., and John Proctor of Pembroke, Mass. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Mary and Florence Rickwood of Toronto, Canada. A graveside service will be held at Forest Hill Cemetery in Fitchburg at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Poquoson Rescue Squad. Claytor Rollins Funeral Home is in charge. JUNE ELKINS SMOOT YORKTOWN - June Elkins Smoot, 68, died Friday, July 5, 1996, in Riverside Hospital following a lengthy illness. Mrs. Smoot was born on what is now the Naval Weapons Station and was a lifelong resident of the Peninsula, both in Newport News and York County. She was a Civil Service employee, working as secretary to the Commanding Officer of the Naval Weapons Station, prior to her retirement in 1985 after 30 years of service. She had served as president of the Friends of the Library for York County. Mrs. Smoot was pledged into Beta Sigma Phi International Sorority in 1958, and at the time of her death was an active member of Lambda Master Chapter. During her years of service in Beta Sigma Phi she held many offices, including president of the Peninsula Council. Her many contributions were recognized by her being chosen chapter and Peninsula Women of the Year. Mrs. Smoot was a member of Seaford Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Jack F. Smoot; two daughters, Connie Reynolds of Valencia, Spain and Pam Worthy of Williamsburg; and sons-in-law, Lonnie Reynolds and Phil Worthy; a brother, Bill Elkins of Newport News; three sisters, Betty Hogge, Janice Oliver and Jean McPherson, all of York County; five grandchildren, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Reynolds, Jeremy Worthy, Jason Worthy and Eric Worthy; and a great-grandson, Lance Worthy. The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday at Peninsula Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Seaford Baptist Church with Dr. Richard Harrell and the Rev. James Weston Jr. officiating. Burial will follow in Peninsula Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to the York County Fire and Rescue Squad, c/o Department of Public Safety, P.O. Box 532, 126 Ballard St., Yorktown, Va. 23692. ELWIN B. TUDDER NEWPORT NEWS - Elwin Bailey Tudder, Lt. Col., U.S. Army Retired, born March 17, 1925, Bakersfield, Calif., died peacefully in his sleep in Newport News on the morning of July 2, 1996. Bailey had a distinguished 24-year Army career beginning in 1943 and ending with his retirement in 1966. His military service began in World War II with duties in the Pacific, France and Berlin, Germany, where, in 1948 during the postwar occupation, he met his wife, Helen. During his years with the Army Finance Corps, he devised a pay system that was the precursor to the Direct Deposit and Allotment system that is used today. In 1956, he received his B.S. degree with honors from the University of Maryland, and in 1958 received his master's of business administration with honors from Harvard University. He was recipient of the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement and the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters. While stationed at Fort Monroe in the late 1950s, Bailey and his family were very active in the Peninsula Community Theater and the Boy Scouts of America. In 1963, after teaching at the Finance School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., the family was transferred to Orleans, France, where Bailey's course in scouting was firmly set. During his three-year tour of duty, he built a flourishing scout troop that touched the lives of many boys and young men. In 1966, after coming home to the United States, Bailey retired from the Army, settling on the lower Virginia Peninsula. Directly after his retirement, he began his career at Noland Corp. headquarters. Throughout his 26 years at Noland, the company actively supported his involvement with local and national scouting. Bailey retired from Noland in 1992. During his years in scouting, Bailey served in many significant capacities. Among his many accomplishments and awards, he was instrumental in the development and expansion of Camp Chicahominy, the summer camp for the Peninsula Council. He served as unit commissioner to Scout Troop and Cub Pack 48 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, where he was awarded the St. George's Cross for distinguished service to the church and scouting. He served as council commissioner for the Peninsula Council and as a member of the executive board of the Colonial Virginia Council. From 1967 to 1974, he was the adviser to Kecoughtan Order of the Arrow Lodge 463. The National Court of Honor of the Boy Scouts of America awarded him the Silver Beaver medal for distinguished service. He served on the staff of four national jamborees and remained active in many local and national scouting roles until 1994. Survivors include: his wife of 48 years, Helen Alden Davison Tudder; daughter, Dale Tudder Scott; son-n-law, Lloyd Stanley Scott Jr.; son, John Mills Tudder II, daughter-n-law, Pamela Slade Tudder; son, Davison Lewis Tudder; sister, Barbara Tudder Kious of Northern California; nieces, W. Jacquelyne Kious and Patricia Kious; brother-in-law, Philip Nichols Davison Jr. of Northern Virginia; niece and husband, Billie Lorell Davison and Ralph Leslie Wallace; nephew and wife, Jeffrey Lee Davison and Darlene Chrisley Davison; nephew and wife, Philip Nichols Davison III and Rebecca Hill Davison; grandchildren, Nicholas Lloyd Scott, Jeffrey Palmer Tudder, Joshua Lee Tudder, Amber Leigh Tudder and Emily Rachel Tudder. Memorial service will be held Tuesday, July 9 at 11 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 45 Main St., Hilton Village. Interment is private. Request expressions of sympathy be in the form of donations to the Colonial Council of Virginia, Boy Scouts of America, 11725 Jefferson Ave., Newport News, Va. 23606; or St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 45 Main St., Newport News, Va. 23601. SAMUEL T. VASSAR HAMPTON - Dr. Samuel T. Vassar, husband of Marion Vassar, died Saturday, July 6, 1996. Arrangements by Cooke Bros. Funeral Chapel. HAMPTON - Margaret Watkins died Saturday, July 6, 1996. Arrangements by Ronald C. Perkins Funeral Home. HAMPTON - Aver Wheeler, 82, cousin of Lillie Swann, died Friday, July 5, 1996. Arrangements by Cooke Bros. Funeral Chapel. NEWPORT NEWS - Mr. Peter Williams was born Sept. 10, 1910, in Franklin County, Louisburg, N.C., to the late General and Winney Davis Williams. He attended their public schools. In 1939, Peter came to Newport News and joined First Baptist Church under the pastorage of A.A. Galvin. Between 1939 and 1949 he served 4 1/2 years in the United States Army. After discharge from the Army, Peter returned to Newport News. In the early 50s Peter became a member of the Senior Ushers. He had served faithfully and supported the Ushers for over 40 years. Peter has one living sister and two deceased brothers. Although Peter never married, he has a devoted niece, Clementine Avery, who cared for him. He is also survived by a host of nieces and nephews. Peter retired from the Newport News Shipyard in 1975. A funeral will be held Wednesday at noon at the First Church of Newport News (Baptist) by the Rev. Fred J. Boddie. Burial with military honors will be in Veterans Memorial Gardens. Viewing will be Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. at the Franklin Funeral Home Chapel with a wake service to follow from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Arrangements by Franklin Funeral Home. BEANER E. PRETLOW WAKEFIELD - Beaner E. Pretlow, 69, wife of Wilroy Pretlow, died Friday, July 5, 1996. Arrangements by Poole's Funeral Home.
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 85 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has 14 testimonials from our readers, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 1,957,604 times. A trip to the beauty salon for a haircut is fine for a special occasion, but it can get expensive to go every 6 weeks. Luckily, you can save some money by trimming your own hair at home! You might be a little nervous the first couple of times, but after you get the hang of it, you'll be glad you learned it! This wikiHow will give you instructions on how to cut long hair, short hair and even how to cut your bangs. Method 1 of 3:Cutting Long Hair 1Buy a sharp pair of scissors. The first step in cutting your hair at home is to invest in the right tools. You will need a sharp pair of hair cutting scissors (not just any old scissors you have lying around at home) and a fine-toothed comb. X Research source - Hair cutting scissors are easily available at beauty supply stores - you can find them pretty cheaply, somewhere in the $25 to $50 range. If you don't want to buy a hair cutting scissors, a fabric scissors will do - just make sure it's really sharp. - Using dull scissors is a bad idea as you will find it harder to cut your hair and may end up giving yourself split ends - which defeats the purpose of giving yourself a haircut in the first place! X Research source 2Wash your hair, but don't dry it. Wet hair is much easier to cut than dry hair, so make sure to shampoo and condition your hair before you start snipping. X Research source - Fully comb out your hair once you get out of the shower - your hair needs be as sleek and tangle free as possible.Use a leave-in conditioner if your hair tends to be frizzy or fly-away. - If your hair is quite long or thick, there's a good chance that sections of your hair might start to dry before you get around to cutting them. To tackle this, fill a spray bottle with water and a little conditioner. Then you can dampen your hair whenever you need to! 3Clip up the top portions of your hair. Depending on how thick your hair is, expect to work in several sections as you cut, starting with the bottom-most layer and working up. X Research source - Use elastic hair ties or crocodile clips to divide hair into sections. Just make sure the sectioned hair isn't left to hang loose - otherwise it could get in the way of your scissors. - Once you've finished with the bottom layer of hair, you can start releasing the other sections as you go. 4Find split ends. If you just want to give your hair a small trim to get rid of your damaged ends, you will first need to inspect your hair to find out how much hair will need to be cut. X Research source - Take a look at the ends of your hair. If they seem scraggly or unruly, or you can see the split hairs, they're probably damaged and need to be cut. - Expect to trim about 0.25 inch (6 mm) above where the damage stops. This will keep your hair in good condition. 5Measure where you wish to cut. For an accurate cut, grab a section of hair between the index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand. - Drag your fingers down your hair, until you reach a point slightly above where you want to cut your hair. Make sure the hair isn't knotted or twisted between your fingers - it must lie perfectly flat. - Your hair will look shorter when it's dry, so be conservative when you're measuring how much to cut. This is particularly important for people with curly hair. - Remember - you can always go back and cut it shorter afterwards, but you can't undo it if you cut too much off on the first go. 6Trim the ends. When you're ready to start cutting, hold the scissors just below your fingers, in a parallel fashion. Try to keep a reasonable tension on the hair between your fingers. - Trim slowly, letting the cut hair fall away as your fingers (and the strand they're holding) remain stable and in the same position. - If you want a blunt end to your hair, just cut straight across and leave it at that. But if you want a softer finish, hold the scissors vertically (perpendicular to your fingers) and cut directly into the hair, until no sharp angles remain. This will give the ends of your hair a more feathery look. X Research source 7Make sure your ends match up. After you've finished trimming one layer of your hair, make sure the ends match up. Grab a section on each side of your face with your hands, using your thumbs and forefingers. - Pull your fingers down the hair at exactly the same pace. Whichever hand runs out of hair first was holding a shorter strand. - Trim accordingly to match up. Re-check the length until you're satisfied, then move on to the next layer of hair. 8Trim your layers (optional). Working with layers, especially if you have very thick or curly hair, is best left to the professionals. However, If you absolutely need a quick trim on the layers framing your face, use the following technique: X Research source - Grab as much of the ends of each layer of hair between your fingers as possible, then trim as little hair as possible, holding the scissors at a slightly downward angle. - In other words, trim your hair following the angle from your jaw on that side of your face to the shoulder on the same side. - Use the softening technique described above to even out the ends of the hair, then match the layers on each side of your face to make sure they're the same length. 9Double-check your hair when it's dry. After your hair has dried (in the way that you usually do it, whether that's air-drying or blow drying), check your cut for any glaring inconsistencies. - Use a handheld mirror to check the hair at the back of your head or, better yet, ask a trusted friend to check it for you. - If you find any unevenness, take your scissors one more time and, very carefully, attempt to even it out, cutting as little hair as possible. Method 2 of 3:Cutting Short Hair 1Gather materials. Most extra-short haircuts are achieved with an electric razor and a pair of scissors. Make sure you have the guard you want for the razor (which will determine how much of your hair it cuts off) and sharp scissors. 2Start with wet hair. You can wash it, or simply dampen it with a spray bottle before you start. Wet hair is easier to cut, and makes cleanup a breeze. X Research source 3Start with the top of your head. For a traditional men's cut, the hair on the top of your head should be slightly longer than it is on the sides and back. - Start an inch or two (2.5-5 cm) above your ear, and follow that line around the back of your head to the other ear, moving the razor in a straight-up motion as you cut. - Then, starting at your forehead, trim the top of your hair by moving the razor back over the natural curve of your head. - Catch any spots you missed between these two areas. 4Cut the back and sides. Put the shorter guard on your razor. Start with your sideburns, moving the razor in an upwards motion. Cut just as far as the point where you started using the longer guard. - On the back of your head, start the razor at your neck and move upward, again stopping where you cut with the longer guard. - Don't worry about the difference in length for now - that's where the scissors come in. 5Use scissors to blend the two hair lengths. Using the index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand, grab a section of longer hair that's just above where you switched guards. X Research source - With the scissors, carefully trim the hair until the two different lengths blend into each other. - Do this all the way around your head until the two sections look well-blended and the there is no obvious difference between the two lengths. - Have a friend double-check the back of your head, or use a hand mirror in front of a larger mirror to check it yourself. - If the "long" part of your hair on top is shorter than finger-width, then skip using your index and middle fingers to pull out sections. Method 3 of 3:Trimming Bangs (Fringe) 1Get a sharp pair of scissors. You can buy scissors meant for hair cutting at a beauty supply store. Don't just use paper or nail scissors - they're too dull for your hair and will make awkward cuts. 2Decide how short you're going to trim. Make a conservative estimate of where you want your bangs to fall. Remember, you can always trim more, but growing back the hair that you didn't mean to cut takes a lot longer. 3Pull back the rest of your hair. Secure non-fringe hair so that it's away from your face and out of the danger zone. If necessary, use a comb to part your bangs away from the rest of your hair. X Research source 4Wet your bangs. Splash a bit of water on the hair, or use a spray bottle. They'll cut more easily wet, and you can do a touch-up once they dry. X Research source 5Measure where you want to cut. Grab a section of hair between the index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand. Drag your fingers down so that they're resting just above where you want to make a cut. 6Trim the hair beneath your fingers. Put your scissors close to your fingers (so that they're almost parallel) and cut slowly. Your fingers (and the hair they're holding) should remain stable as the trimmed hair falls away. X Research source 7Make sure your sides match up. If you want your bangs to be the same length all the way across, make sure they match up. - On each side, grab a strand between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Pull your fingers down slowly and at the same pace. - If one hand runs out of hair before the other, you need to trim a bit to match up the sides. - Do this until you're satisfied that the lengths are even. 8Cut side swept bangs (optional). If you want your bangs to sweep to the side, comb them in the direction that you want them to go. - Tip your head forward slightly, so that your bangs fall away from your face. Put your scissors in the direction you want your bangs to run. - Starting near the part, position the scissors where you want the shortest part of your bangs. For side swept bangs, they'll get a bit longer as you go on. Because of this, angle your scissors slightly downward. - Make short, small cuts across your bangs. The lengths should be a bit choppy, but not overly so. Aim to cut sections that are about 0.5 inch (12 mm) wide. - When your bangs dry, touch them up. Ruffle the hair a bit, and see if you're happy with where it falls. Make more trims if necessary. QuestionHow do I hold and cut long hair from the front?Community AnswerTake small sections at a time and chop off as much as you want. Then, slowly cut the other hairs section by section to get a perfect cut. QuestionI'm growing out a pixie hairstyle. How do I shape it to be a short bob?Community AnswerTrim the back as it grows. Let the bangs catch up to the back. Should look like short bob in 3 - 4 months. QuestionI want to get my haircut, but I'm scared. What can I do?Community AnswerDon't be scared. Bring a picture of what you want to the hair salon. Ask a friend to come with you if you think that might help. Remember that haircuts are always temporary, even if you're not thrilled with it, it will grow out pretty quickly. QuestionI want to cut my hair the length of Hanna's from Pretty Little Liars, but every time I go to the hairdresser they either cut it too short or leave it too long. What do I do?Community AnswerYou can bring a reference picture for the hairdresser so it's easier for them to see what you want. If they leave it too long you can always ask for them to trim it a little shorter. QuestionWhat should I do if I messed up my haircut badly and I now have bald spots?Community AnswerEither see a hairdresser or wear a hat while you grow it out. QuestionHow to I cut my sides a little shorter so they aren't so blunt on an already-short hairdo?Community AnswerJust take the guard off of the razor. That will ensure that they are as short as possible. QuestionHow do I cut my hair for the first time?Community AnswerIf it's your first time, I would recommend keeping it very simple. Don't attempt very hard haircuts, and most important follow every single step above. Also, you can begin with just trimming your hair before giving it a really hard cut or short cut (depending on the length you want it). QuestionHow do I cut my hair into a short bob?Community AnswerWash and dry your hair, and then part it where you normally have your part. You may want to do that before drying your hair though. Then divide your hair into three equal sections, two on the sides, and one in the back. Cut the back section however long you’d like, then use a hair razor for the sides. You can then add layers and blend. QuestionHow do I cut my hair from the back in straight length without seeing what I’m doing?Community AnswerTry placing a few mirrors around you, this way you can see the back of your head. Before you fo anything major, try just trimming from the back until you get used to it. - Make sure you have 2 mirrors present. That way you can check the back of your head. - You'll get better at cutting your own hair with practice. - If you are cutting hair to donate don't cut it wet as it will mold when sealed tightly for delivery and then won't be able to be used. Also remember that the hair appears shorter when dry so always cut a little longer than you want it to be if you are cutting with wet hair. - Try using hair scissors instead of regular ones. Regular ones will make it harder to cut straight. - The thicker your hair, the more difficult it will be to get an even hair cut. Coarse, thick or curly hair is best left to a professional. - If you do don't want your ends to be blunt and big or would prefer a more natural line, you can flip your hair over, brush it straight and cut a straight line across. This works well because you can see your hair in front of you and you don't have to mess with mirrors. - Be very careful when you are cutting your hair near your ears. - Don't use thinning shears too close to the scalp, the thinned pieces can stick up or out. - If you have thick hair, get a pair of thinning scissors. - Try to put a rubber band at the place you want to cut it. - If this is your first time cutting your own hair, don't go too short. That way, if you mess up, you can have it professionally fixed at the length you want. - Next time you go to a salon, watch how the stylist cuts your hair. Use this information next time you plan to cut your own. - You could practice on a wig. - Never cut large chunks of your hair. Take small sections. - If you are dissatisfied with a professional hair cut, going to another salon to have it fixed by another professional will yield better results than trying to fix it yourself. - Do not attempt a new hair style by yourself. Unless you are an experienced stylist, just stick to trimming the style you already have. - Be careful with the scissors. - Very curly hair is difficult to cut, and as a general rule should never be cut at home. If you absolutely want to cut curly hair, straighten it first and then cut it. Things You'll Need - Electric razor (optional) - Hair-cutting scissors - Hair clips or elastics (optional) - ↑ https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/beauty/hair/how-to-cut-your-own-hair-5684 - ↑ http://hair.allwomenstalk.com/tips-for-cutting-your-own-hair/4/ - ↑ https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a19968418/wet-or-dry-haircut/ - ↑ https://www.parents.com/kids/hygiene/how-to-cut-your-kids-hair/ - ↑ https://www.girllovesglam.com/cut-split-ends/ - ↑ http://www.bellasugar.com/How-Cut-Your-Own-Hair-9838912 - ↑ https://www.manrepeller.com/2016/08/how-to-cut-your-own-hair.html - ↑ https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/how-to-give-yourself-a-haircut-20131203/ - ↑ https://haircutinspiration.com/how-to-cut-boys-haircut-layering-blending/ About This Article Before you cut your own hair, wash it and comb it out. Use elastic hair ties or crocodile clips to divide your hair into sections, and clip it up so you can work from the bottom-most layer first. Then, grab one of the bottom sections between your index and middle finger and hold it just above where you want to cut. Next, use your other hand to hold the scissors parallel just below there and slowly trim the ends. Continue section by section, checking that the hair on both sides of your face is even, until you're done! If you want to learn how to cut and style short hair or bangs, keep reading the article! Reader Success Stories "I had super long, gross hair and had no idea how to take care of it. After reading this I decided to buzz it myself by chopping off my ponytail and then buzzing the rest with my dad's razor. My parents were a bit mad, but I look great now."..." more
The Ravens' defense had the AFC North in its hands. This group, so much greater than the sum of its parts all season, had a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day. They had a three-point lead with 1:18 left. These are the situations that teams build toward from the first day of organized team activities. They couldn't hold on. "I told [Antonio Brown] he had to go get the game-winning touchdown," Le'Veon Bell told NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala after the game. "We weren't even thinking about a field goal; we were thinking about getting the touchdown." With so many playoff spots decided over the holidays, Week 16 proved to be a final, failed exam for many groups like the Ravens' defense. Simply give up two fourth-quarter touchdowns and the Ravens are headed for a division title. They gave up three. It was a brutal moment of self-realization in Baltimore that there are no true shutdown defenses in NFL this season. There are plenty of top-shelf offenses at the top of the league. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott put together his best performance all season on Monday night against Detroit, fitting countless difficult throws into tight windows. The entire Cowboys team, including an emerging pass rush, showed great mental toughness in a game that "meant nothing" to them. They proved they are mature enough to stay sharp for the next few weeks before their playoff journey starts, that they don't need to take a break from greatness. Before we move on to playoff mode for good, here's a look at which teams passed or failed their Week 16 tests: Failed final exams Rex Ryan's defense: Ryan coached the Bills defense in his head -- rather than the one on the field -- for two seasons in Buffalo. Facing a fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 41-yard line with 4 minutes left in overtime against Miami, Ryan chose to punt the ball away and trust his defense to get the ball back quickly. A tie did the Bills no good in that scenario. Simply giving up a few first downs would have eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. But Rex's ultimate confidence in his side of the ball was unwavering despite Miami's 31 points and Matt Moore's ease in setting up a game-tying field goal with no timeouts left in regulation. At that point in the game, the Bills' defense had failed to get a stop for five straight drives. The Dolphins wound up rushing for 261 yards against a Bills defense that decayed after Ryan arrived in town. There were only 10 Bills even on the field for Jay Ajayi's decisive overtime run. For the second straight season, the stronger side of this Bills team was the offense. They were the top-ranked rushing team in football, with 272 yards on the ground against Miami. Yet the Bills did not have enough confidence to pick up two yards in two plays, calling a shotgun pass on third-and-2 in overtime before punting. Tyrod Taylor, LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins' incredible effort against Miami (589 total offensive yards!) should make it clear that Rex's defense -- and his inability to assess his own team -- was his downfall. Titans' offense: This was a season of great progress and hope for Tennessee's offense. Marcus Mariota, the running game and the young offensive line provide a great foundation for years to come. This was an offense-led team, though, and the offense came up short well before Mariota's broken legin Jacksonville. The Titans were doubled up in yardage over three quarters with Mariota under center, gaining 159 yards in nine drives. Mariota had an incredible fourth quarter against the Chiefs in Week 15, but overall, the offense had been stagnant in December, with Mariota's accuracy wavering -- he completed less than 50 percent of his passes combined in his final three games -- and some struggles in short-yardage running. As Chris Wesseling put it on our Christmas Eve podcast, the Titans just weren't ready this season. They are coming. Luck grades himself on a steep curve and often takes the blame when it's not his fault. But he's right about the Raiders game. He was one of the big reasons they trailed throughout, missing throws and making mistakes in the game early. This was always a near "Mission Impossible" task for Luck this season. He returned to being a top-tier quarterback and mostly was outstanding. But he did not play particularly well in the two biggest games of the Colts' season, against Houstonand Oakland over the last three weeks. Luck needed an MVP-caliber effort to carry his lousy offensive line and defense. That's a steep curve and he fell short in December. Trevor Siemian: An underrated asset for most of this year, Denver's passing game caved in the last two weeks against playoff-quality competition. Siemian was better than his numbers despite a terrible offensive line and running game, but this sluggish finish opens the door more for Paxton Lynch to compete for the starting job in the offseason. (Denver's defense, which has set an incredibly high bar like Luck, also did not achieve transcendence by giving up 484 yards in a do-or-die game in Kansas City.) The Week 17 finale against San Franscisco won't tell us much about the state of these roller-coaster Seahawks. They likely will finish the season 3-3 in their final six games, with two of those wins coming against Jared Goff and Colin Kaepernick. One of the most impressive streaks in football should end, with Seattle unlikely to finish as the best scoring defense in football for the first time since 2011. This is not to say the Seahawks are done. They have the talent and coaching staff to pull it all together, and their playoff journey starts at home. Carroll, however, wanted to see a championship-level response from his team after a few rocky weeks. He got a dud, a far cry from the December surges that typified their best seasons. A brief preview of coaching changes The coaching carousel looks likely to be more active than expected back in Week 12 when we first previewed the market. (That was way back when Mike McCarthy's status was a question. Feels like a generation ago.) The Rams and Jaguars started their coaching searches. The Bills joined them Tuesday when they fired Rex Ryan, a surprise only for its timing. The Chargers and Bears, both mentioned prominently in November, sound more likely than not to make a change. Chip Kelly, like any 2-13 coach, shouldn't feel totally safe, but there have been multiple indications he should make it to Year 2. The biggest change since Week 12 concerns teams that struggled down the stretch. Todd Bowles and Chuck Pagano are potential "surprise" names that could pop up. Then again, they wouldn't be surprise names if we could guess them ahead of time. Add it all up, and the bar for teams hiring new head coaches this offseason is around six. Passed their test Jay Ajayi and Dolphins' running game: The Dolphins season turned around when Jay Ajayi took over the workhorse running back role in Week 6. It gave the team's offense some clarity and an identity when the passing game was struggling. Ajayi's numbers fell off down the stretch, but it wasn't for lack of effort. Miami's line is ranked No. 30 in Pro Football Focus' run-blocking rankings. Ajayi has earned his yards all season, and his 206-yard effort against Buffalo was a symphony of labor. Miami should play to win in Week 17 for a variety of reasons, but reducing Ajayi's workload after a 32-carry effort should be a priority. The Fins will need him fresh for the playoffs because he's the biggest reason they've made it this far. Redskins' offense: After an ugly performance on Monday night against the Panthers, Kirk Cousins and friends played in Chicago on Saturday on a very short week. Four straight long-scoring drives in the first half set the tone that Washington's offense was back in form. Now the team is in position to make the playoffs with a victory against the Giants in Week 17. Pittsburgh's balance: After not authoring a fourth-quarter comeback all season, Ben Roethlisberger has pulled it off in back-to-back weeks against tough division rivals. The Steelers are the only team ranked in the top 10 in defense and offense in Football Outsiders' metrics, and they needed that balance on Christmas. The defense kept the team in it early, and Big Ben put together a fourth quarter for the ages: 14 of 17 for 164 yards and three touchdown drives against the big, bad Ravens. Two of those incompletions were spikes. Texans' defense:Randy Bullock, the artist formerly known as "Fat Randy," missing a field goal as time expired in Houston was a perfect way for the AFC South to be won. Sure, these Texans were fortunate along the way; they've been outscored by 42 points over the course of the season and still find themselves in the playoffs. Still, Houston's Watt-less defense has passed every test it's faced. The unit's effort against Cincinnati was, as has become typical this year, led by Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and breakout cornerback A.J. Bouye. The Texans, with newly installed Tom Savage under center, still punted on their first six possessions. The Texans' defense is used to overcoming it. Matt Ryan: It says a lot that Atlanta's 33-16 win in Carolina felt so ho-hum. Ryan strafed a defense that had been playing well, and the win moved the Falcons into position for a playoff bye. This Falcons offense has passed every regular-season test. There have been a lot of phony "No. 1 defenses" this season, but Atlanta is undoubtedly the league's best offense. (Sorry, Dallas.) Joe Thomas: Doing a job at the very highest level when others crumble around you is the definition of professionalism. Thomas is a top-five tackle again in his 10th season, never letting the weight of a winless campaign show in his play. His emotions after the Browns win said plenty about how much the game means to him. Let's hope the rest of the franchise can begin to rise toward Thomas' standard before he retires.
Panorama - May 2021 - So, who’s got it right? Companies, central banks or governments ? Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer Companies have reported very good results and look confident for the coming months. Central banks are sticking to their cautious take, stressing that we are still far from “pre-Covid” activity levels. Governments are piling up debt while promising stronger future potential growth in a “greener” economy but at the cost of heavier taxes and regulations… What are we to make of these divergent messages and what investment strategy is best after a very good start to the year and with markets at all-time highs? The year got o¡ to a good start, along the lines of 2020, which was a year full of surprises and contradictions. Equity markets continued to rally rather aggressively, with healthy gains on the year to date that are already close to what we had forecast for the entire year, at 10% to 15% for the main indices. The rally has not been derailed by rising bond yields, especially in the United States. On the contrary, the markets continue to be driven by very low interest rates and abundant liquidities provided by central banks and governments, amidst an economic recovery that looks very promising, given how much ground that has to be made up. That being said, the markets do appear to be running out of steam and are becoming increasingly tentative, with a series of trading sessions with low volumes and little intraday volatility. And no wonder. On the one hand, a pause seems to make sense after the gains that have been accumulated. On the other hand, the future is getting harder to read. What should we believe? The highly optimistic message from companies or the very cautious line being put out by the Federal Reserve, all against a backdrop of heavier and heavier public debt that raises fears ultimately of a world that is more heavily administered, regulated and, especially, taxed. Companies are highly optimistic. So far, almost 60% of S&P 500 companies have reported their first-quarter results, and those results have been impressive indeed: 87% have beaten forecasts, and year-on-year earnings growth has exceeded 45%, vs. 25% forecast. True, much of this is due to a natural base effect created by last year’s freeze on activity, but it’s breath-taking all the same. Momentum has naturally been driven by a surge in profits in large tech stocks (e.g., Apple and Alphabet), which are the index’s largest caps. Financial analysts have accordingly raised their forecasts for the coming months. All this should work out to 31% earnings growth for S&P 500 companies this year, considerably higher (by 13%) than in 2019. The outlook is also quite good for 2022, with 13% growth forecast. Prospects are also very bright for Europe on the whole, even though tech stocks are far less heavily represented there. Earnings forecasts have also been revised upward, and we are now looking at a 41% increase this year and 15% next year. In Europe, not until 2022 will we exceed the level of 2019. So, visibility is rather good for the next 18 to 24 months, driven by the economic recovery and a natural “catching up” effect. Therein lies the ambiguity of the messages being sent out by the central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, which is surprisingly cautious amidst this intense phase of recovery. Jerome Powell has taken a very cautious line, insisting on several occasions that there was no risk of inflation, and that the US economy was still far off its pre-crisis level, particular on the jobs front. Well, it sure doesn’t look like it. In fact, US growth is on track to surpass 7% this year, pushing up commodity and transport prices and triggering shortages in electronic components and labour in some sectors. Meanwhile, the pace of job creations suggests that the unemployment rate is likely to fall below 4.0% as early as yearend. Remember that the unemployment rate had risen to a post-war high, at 14.8% in April 2020, and has now fallen back to 6.0% after a flurry of hiring in recent weeks in services with the vaccination-driven reopening of the economy. For the moment, the bond markets seem to trust Powell. True, long bond yields have risen, quickly at first, but have levelled off over the past several weeks at below 2% on 10-year US government bonds. Keep in mind that bond yields have risen far less in Europe, by only about 40 basis points on the year to date and that the 10-year Bund yield has levelled off within a -0.20%/-0.25% range. So, Powell’s highly cautious line is hard to understand. If he keeps this up, the markets may end up worrying when inflation exceeds 3%, as is highly likely in the coming months. Even though the Fed has flagged and commented on this eventuality, investor confidence could be seriously shaken if inflation says above 3% for several months. On the other hand, a shift in tone or even a tapering (reduction in purchasing programmes) announcement late in the summer would not be a complete surprise in this context. In light of the above, it is hard to predict what the markets will do, but keep in mind how brusquely they reacted to the two previous taperings, in 2013 and 2015. Each time, bond yields spiked by about 100 to 150 basis points, and volatility rose on Wall Street. The euro zone is lagging behind the cycle compared to the United States, due to a tentative vaccination campaign, and the ECB’s tone therefore comes as less of a “shock”. The highly accommodative policy it has flagged does not appear to be completely at odds with what is actually happening in the field. Central bank caution is also surprising alongside governments’ policies and the “ideological” turn that is beginning to take shape in minds, and – what is most surprising – especially in the United States. Stimulus and investment plans have come one after the other and on an impressive scale. Without getting too much into the details that have already been widely publicised, plans approved or under consideration will amount to almost $6,900bn, equivalent to almost 30% of US GDP. That is an impressive figure especially from the world’s largest economy. This will rase US public debt to almost 130% of GDP, higher even than in France (about 120%) and far higher than in Germany (about 70%). The initial plan was to boost household spending by handing out cheques last year but also to invest in the future in infrastructures and the digital economy and to prepare the US for the energy transition. This is a praiseworthy goal and should boost the US’s growth potential. The markets took note of the very positive aspect of these investments, which will stimulate economic activity. But there is a less pleasant side. To fund these plans, taxes will have to be raised. There have already been some much-hyped discussions on the taxation, and tax optimisation, of the GAFAMs (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft). More generally, Americans will be taxed more heavily, and the corporate tax rate is expected to rise from 21% to 28% in the coming years. So, we appear to be entering an era where fiscal discipline won’t be the priority, where debt will pile up, and where a “debt addiction” could take hold, with public spending earmarked not for investment but to cover the recurring deficits that result from lax management of public finances. And history has shown us that governments are far from being the most e§cient allocators of long-term capital. Be that as it may, a breath-taking economic recovery is expected in the coming months. On an annualised basis, US growth will be about 10.0% in the next two quarters. This should push it past the current full-year consensus of 6.2%. The euro zone is lagging behind and it will take a later path to recovery than the US. The recovery there will truly begin to accelerate in the coming quarters and will also be less intense, as stimulus is far less aggressive and is taking time to be rolled out. Ultimately, growth could exceed 5.0% in the euro zone, which is slightly above the current consensus forecast of 4.2%. China, in contrast, is ahead of the US in the lockdown-exit cycle. Its economy had reopened before the others, and after a strong rebound in the second half of 2020, the pace of growth is now slowing, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, the government is wary of overall debt levels and is beginning to take measures to rein in lending, particularly in real estate, and to direct it towards small and mid-sized companies. Even so, at around 9%, growth is likely to be far above the government’s 6% low-ball target. Global growth could thus exceed 6% this year, after contracting by almost 4% in 2020. For the moment, it is expected at a little more than 4% in 2022. In the current market environment, it is also worth monitoring trends in inflation, which will once again become an important parameter. In the United States, it hit 2.6% in March, due mainly to a basis effect on oil prices. When stripping out temporary items, core inflation (inflation ex energy and ex food) remains under control for the moment, at about 1.6% but is likely to accelerate in the coming months for the aforementioned reasons, and headline inflation is likely to exceed 3.0% as early as this summer. For the moment, the full-year consensus is 2.5% and 2.2% for next year, thus suggesting that the markets are not currently pricing in strong inflationary pressures. In the euro zone, inflation rose from 0.8% to 1.6%, while inflation ex food and ex energy slipped to 0.9%. It could rise in the coming months with the recovery in activity and pressures in some segments of the economy. However, it is far from being an issue and is still far from the ECB’s 2.0% target. The consensus forecasts 1.5% for 2021 and 1.2% for 2022. Central banks’ accommodative stance will not change in the coming months The Fed and the ECB have several things in common. They remain steadfast in their communication and in the conduct of their respective monetary policies. They agree that higher inflation is being driven by factors that are essentially temporary and that they should not undermine government stimulus plans with an untimely rate hike. Under current conditions, key rates are therefore unlikely to change, at 0.0% in the US and -0.5% in the euro zone. This will keep bond yields from moving up too much, although they are naturally expected to rise alongside the expected economic acceleration. We forecast a 10-year US yield slightly above 2.0% at yearend and a 10-year Bund of about 0.0%. Credit spreads are already very narrow on the whole, and there is little additional room for tightening, whether in investment grade or high yield. The asset class nonetheless continues to be supported by very heavy inflows, particularly from the ECB’s buying programmes. Local-currency emerging market debt has been hit this year by rising US yields and the weakening of a few currencies in countries hit hard by the pandemic. It now looks rather attractive on the whole on a medium-term horizon. Everything’s going up: earnings, share prices and… valuations The markets have naturally risen on expectations of the improvement in corporate earnings that is taking shape. Valuations have also risen against a backdrop of stubbornly low interest rates and yield-seeking capital. The current paradox is that the equity market’s “implied” yield (including dividends and share buybacks) is now higher than bonds! For example, European dividend yields are is about 3%, even as more and more companies announce share buybacks, which is one way to return cash to shareholders. The S&P 500 is thus currently trading at 22.6x 2021 earnings and 20x 2022 earnings, based on the latest revisions of forecasts. This is rather high on historical standards and leaves little room for any further upside and makes the entire market vulnerable to higher interest rates. That being said, there are few alternatives now, given the current lack of attractiveness of the fixed-income markets. The EuroStoxx is currently trading at 18x 2021 forecast earnings, and 16x 2022, which is also rather high by historical standards on this market, albeit less excessive than the S&P 500. By sector, recovery-exposed sectors continue to make up lost ground and now look close to having completed this process. This looks like the time for a more balanced weightings between the various styles and sectors. In short, we don’t see much additional upside potential in the equity markets in the short term. On the other hand, there are few alternatives. Our central scenario We are very tempted to move from “neutral” to “underweight” on equities. But the equity markets are being driven by both monetary and fiscal policies, both of which are very powerful, and it is hazardous to try to fight such support head-on. Even so, everything is rather expensive and we do see so some “complacency” in the markets. We therefore recommend reasonable equity exposures that are close to strategic weightings but that won’t push portfolios too far into risk zones in the event of a sudden correction and that, on the contrary, will make it possible to reinvest with peace of mine. There are many potential catalysts of a market swoon. We have mentioned several of them, the biggest of which is the possibility of a tapering announcement by the Fed in late summer. We might also add the risk of a resurgence in the pandemic, something that is happening in some countries, even those that have vaccinated high percentages of their populations. In short, history has shown that investor psychology can shift course rapidly. And it happens that we are now in May. Everyone knows the old adage “Sell in May and go away”, but even old market adages appear to have lost their currency in this “administered” financial world. Document completed on 06/05/2021 Investing in financial markets involves risks, including risk of capital loss. Source of indexes cited: www.bloomberg.com
In the land of the Pharoah and Sphinx We went on a family trip to Egypt in early-October and the weather was typically hot in the mornings till around 4 pm and pleasant in the evenings. Our vacation kicked off with a visit to Cairo where we visited the awe-inspiring Pyramids of Giza. This necropolis houses the pyramids of Khufu (Great Pyramid / Cheops), Khafre (Chepren) and Mykerinos with a sprinkling of much tinier "queens" pyramids. It's amazing to even think that these were constructed around 4,000 years ago and without any of the technological advances of the modern world. These are the only remaining monuments of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Most of the original limestone casing has been eroded, but we did catch a glimpse of it on the peak of Khafre's pyramid. While the first two pyramids are very close to each other, for a view of all three together we were taken to a "photo" spot. Tourists are also beckoned to go for camel rides. Our next stop was the famous Sphinx, which as legend has it, guards the pyramids (the role has today however been passed on to policemen mounted on camels). The half-man, half-lion structure is supposedly the largest monolith statue in the world! Much of its original golden ornaments, including a crown, have been stolen. We managed to pick up some souvenirs here, albeit after a lot of bargaining. Image: The Sphinx with the pyramids as a backdrop Photographs: Arpita Mitra A history lover's delight After a quick lunch stopover, we went off to a papyrus factory where we got a demo of how papyrus was made. You can also buy paintings made on papyrus here. We were then whisked off to a perfume factory, which produces what we know as attar. This was a huge building divided into multiple "welcome" zones where each group was welcomed with hibiscus juice or extra-strong and bitter coffee. It's a well-organised business where you are handed over cards with perfume names written on it, someone assigned to your group takes you through smelling different categories of perfumes and you are asked to tick out which ones you want to purchase. We chose not to buy any because attar available in India is equally good. However, the colourful perfume bottles in myriad shapes were truly eye-catching. We were quite disappointed with the visit though since we had been given to understand that we would be taken through the process of how they made perfumes which was not the case -- it was just kind of a well-organised sales pitch. Our last stop for the day was the colossal Egyptian Museum. No cameras are allowed inside. This is a history lover's delight but would be no less exciting for one not so inclined towards history. The treasures of young King Tutankhamen's pyramids are kept in a separate room. The exotic gold mask, gold throne and King Tut's many toys and utilities made of gold, beads, ivory and so on were truly riveting. The huge stone sarcophaguses were equally remarkable. We really regretted that we didn't have enough time to spend in the museum. Of course, there were lots of mummies on display and the dank smell and dim lighting conjured up images of The Mummy Returns. It was dark by the time we finished our museum tour and we were rushed to Giza station. That reminds me, tea here is usually had without milk (much to the consternation of our parents) and communicating here is a big problem because, apart from the guides, very few people speak or understand English. We patiently waited for the train that would take us to Aswan to arrive. Image: An educational visit to a papyrus factory A cruise down the Nile We were allotted separate cabins with two bunks each and fitted with a wash basin. A sumptuous dinner was served to the strains of Arabic music playing on the radio in each cabin. A pointer though, it will be tough for vegetarians since there is no "veg" food on board. For the meat-eaters there's chicken and beef. The bogey-in-charge not only serves food but also sets your bed. What was funny was the "power cut" for around 30 minutes just as we were served our food, surprisingly the train kept moving. The next morning we took in the mostly brown landscape on one side and greenery on the other as we chugged along to Aswan. At Aswan that we boarded for our cruise down the Nile. The river was beautiful and blue, and dotted with pretty yachts and loads of cruise ships. As we waited at the lounge bar for our rooms to be allotted, we got the feeling of the wonderful time that lay in store for us. The rooms were beautiful and it was a delight to look out of the window to see the landscape bordering the river. Lunch was a welcome spread. And after sufficiently refuelling, off we went for the tour. We visited the enormous Lake Nasser that provides hydro-electricity to Egypt, we passed by the old and new dams and then took a boat ride to the Philae Temple. That was our first brush with a temple in Egypt and we were awed by its sheer size and the huge pillars and carvings that adorned it. This temple was previously located on another island and was restored by the government to its present location when the rising water levels (due to construction of the old dam) threatened to submerge it. Image: The majestic Philae temple Of falcons and crocodiles We then embarked on a felucca ride around Elephantine Island. A felucca is the local yacht and it was sheer joy gliding along the Nile watching the sunset and taking in the pleasant breeze. There was a moment when the felucca simply stalled as there was no wind -- it was quite eerie to actually be left to the will of nature. To the evening prayers being called out and the cacophony of birds, we glided by the tomb of the viceroy of Aswan, the botanical gardens and Aga Khan's mausoleum. It was nightfall when we returned to the ship. After dinner we were treated to a performance of Nubian dances. Nubians are originally from Sudan and the performers ensured that my husband and I were initiated into their art. While our family rolled with laughter, we danced to their beats and their calls. It was a fitting, lively end to a day full of activity. In the morning as we headed for breakfast, our cruise ship ploughed though the waters, with our dining room being half below water level. What an experience! The ship docked at Kom Ombo and we went ashore to visit the temple that was (unusually) dedicated to two gods -- Sobek (the crocodile god) and Horus (the falcon god). The temple has two entrances, and similar designs on both sides including sanctuaries, room, halls etc all in duplicate. Around 300 mummies of crocodiles were found in and around the area and a few of them are displayed in a separate chamber on the temple courtyard. There was also a very deep well in which crocodiles were supposedly bred and which linked to the river Nile. Our ship then sailed from Kom Ombo and stopped at Edfu. Along the way the landscape was beautiful. We saw stretches of brown followed by fields of banana, date and so on, villages with camels and donkeys scattered here and there, we even passed by temple ruins; it was beautiful from the sundeck. After lunch, the ship docked at Edfu. In the scorching heat we went by horse carriage to the Edfu temple. The carriages were neatly parked in "garages" meant for them. It was quite a long walk to the temple from there and unfortuantely we got quite a sunburn. This temple is also dedicated to Horus and has two huge statues of the Falcon God at the entrance. Image: Huge statues of the Falcon God welcome you to the Edfu temple The marvel of Esna Lock Back to the cruise, we enjoyed tea and cake as the ship set sail to the backdrop of a beautiful sunset. We saw Egyptians busy in soccer matches and generally idling along the banks as they took in the setting sun. Around dinnertime we crossed the Esna Lock -- an experience one should not miss. The first barrage bridge is a one-way opening and we had to wait in queue as we watched a column of cruise ships pass by in the opposite direction. Then it was our turn. The next barrage bridge is a marvel. There are two ways here but one has to wait as the water levels are monitored. A huge gate blocks out the water of the Nile while side sluice gates regulate the water flow on either side. We saw the cruise ship ahead of us gradually lower with the falling water level (and later realised we are also gently moving down) as the cruise ships on the other side gradually moved up with the rising waters. Once the water levels are just right, the ships actually passed by. That night we had a party on board -- where we hired Galabbias (traditional Arabic dresses) and danced to Arabic music. Image: Sunset on the Nile Balloon with a view While we were asleep, our ship docked in Luxor East Bank. At our guide's suggestion, my husband, my brother and I woke up at 4 am for a hot air balloon adventure. Tourism is really well organised in this country. We were met at the ship by a representative who transferred us to a car which drove us to a ferry point. East Luxor, even in the early morning darkness, looked beautiful. We were served tea/coffee and cakes in the ferry that took us across to the West Bank of the Nile. As we got into a waiting car, we saw the first rays of the sun. We were taken to our hot air balloon owned by Sinbad Balloons. Around 20 of us in four chambers of the basket listened with rapt attention as our Captain Mohammed (incidentally every other person was called Mohammed) explained the landing procedures to us. And then suddenly with a gush of hot flame, up we went, gently rising with the wind. We witnessed the sunrise and were mesmerised as we watched the Nile glide by below us and the ruins of the solemn West Bank. We flew over villages that subsist mainly on agriculture -- there were fields of sugarcane, wheat, opium. We saw locals waking up to the morning, we saw kids playing around -- tiny people from up above. And we even saw a wolf running around in the fields. We eventually landed on a opium field, but their network is so strong that within five minutes we had the Sinbad balloon people running towards us to guide the balloon to a better landing place. In the ferry ride back to our cruise we were given certificates and t-shirts as mementos -- cool customer service I must say. Image: The mesmeric view from a hot air balloon Touring the East Bank... Over breakfast we narrated our experiences to our parents and after a good sleep and playing some cards and lunch, we headed for the East Bank tour. We visited the Karnak Temple and were greeted by a row of ram-headed Sphinxes lining the entrance on either side. This temple had 134 colossal columns in its hypostyle hall and two huge obelisks. Another obelisk lies near the sacred lake of the temple. We then headed to the Luxor Temple which also has a Sphinx avenue. This was supposedly connected to the Karnak Sphinxes at one point of time. Two huge statutes of Ramesses II (who built this temple) are seated at the entrance and there are more of his huge statues inside. The sunset through the huge pillars looked beautiful. A pink granite obelisk still stands in the temple -- its twin was taken away to Paris. This temple was buried before it was discovered and the Islamic invaders had built a mosque on the land above it. The mosque stands today too -- a wonderful blend of ancient cultures. Image: Ram-headed Sphinxes line the entrance to the Karnac temple ...and the West Bank The next morning was our tour to the Luxor West Bank. This time we went by road and passed by the villages on the west. In the scorching heat we visited the Valley of the Kings where 62 tombs have been found. King Tut's tomb also happens to be here. Battery-operated open trains dropped us to the entrance of the valley, from there on it was a long walk through the heat and sand. We could enter three of the tombs, each different from the other, and each having the age-old paintings quite well-preserved on the walls. We then went to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut or Deir el Bahri, a three-storied temple, carved in the surrounding hills. This was one powerful woman. She not only declared herself a pharaoh (to the extent of wearing a false beard) but also initiated trade relations with Sudan (Punt). The roots of two trees that were brought as goodwill from Sudan still lie at the entrance of the temple. This expedition is depicted on the walls of her temple. You can enjoy a great view of Luxor from above. We passed by colourful alabaster factories on the way to a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon -- a pair of massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. His queen is depicted as a tiny figure at the bottom of the statues. Our cruise guide left us at the Savoy Market in East Luxor where we shopped around for souvenirs before grabbing lunch at McDonalds. The walls of McD had colourful cartoon depictions of the Sphinx and it overlooked the Luxor Temple -- a beautiful location for McD indeed. We ventured to take horse-cart "taxis" back to the cruise and spent a lazy evening till we were transferred to the beautiful, spotless Luxor station. Our cabins on the train were connected this time and were much bigger and neater. We had a good dinner and played cards till we fell asleep. Image: The tree-storeyed Deir el Bahri The next morning we arrived at Giza and checked into our hotel once more. After much deliberation we set out on a trip to Alexandria (founded by Alexander the Great) and thank God that we did! It is a delightful city along the Mediterranean and the drive along the sea was exotic. The drive got us really revved up -- we had spent much of our childhood trying to the spelling right and now we were actually standing on the colourful shore of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. There were trams plying on the streets, some even with double decks. Beautiful Victorian-style street lamps and walls decorated by art students blend the city with old-world charm and modern-day colours. We first went to the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa which was an amalgamation of Greeko-Roman and Egyptian influences. We went down winding steps that led into a dank well which still has water from the sea flowing in. It had various types of burials on display -- mummies, urns of ashes and usual burials. Loads of horse bones were found here as well. Trivia: the site was discovered when a donkey accidentally fell into the shaft! Passing through the bazaars and roadside hookah joints, we went to Pompey's Pillar -- made out of a single piece of red granite flanked on either side by Sphinxes brought from some other temple sites. After a late lunch, we went to the Montaza Palace and its beautifully manicured garden of King Farouk. One of the palaces is now a hotel while the other is, at times, used by President Hosni Mubarak. We caught the sunset as we drove along the Mediterranean to the Fort on Qait Bay. Unfortunately it was night by the time we reached. Image: Lake Nasser My husband... Amitabh? Had we known how beautiful Alexandria would be, we would definitely have added another day to our trip and stayed over in the city. But we had to return to Giza for our flight to Mumbai the next day. We returned a tired and sleepy lot, but a very happy one nonetheless, for not having missed Alexandria. Amitabh Bachchan is well-known throughout Egypt and quite often we were greeted with enthusiastic "Indian? Namaste! Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman". Sholay seems to be the most-watched Amitabh movie and the Egyptians are up to date with even Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. To the delight of my hubby, he was called 'Amitabh Bachchan' many many times all along our trip. While friendly Egyptian tourism police offered my mom tea, local Egyptians wanted to take photo with "Indians...Amitabh Bachchan!" The Egyptian meal typically consists of lukewarm soup, cold salad, a big plate of raita, grilled chicken/ fish, a type of brown rice, grilled vegetables and for dessert a variety of fruits like guava, muskmelon, unripe dates, watermelon, big grapes etc. The only negative part was the demand for tips, where how much to pay was also laid down. So be prepared to either bargain that out (yes, you've got to bargain for tips too) or just yield to their high demands. Image: Alexandria is a mix of old world charm and modern day colours
The Malik Report by George Malik on 03/04/11 at 08:32 AM ET The Detroit Red Wings managed to do something on Thursday that only the Red Wings could do, at least from this partisan fan’s perspective: the Wings expended even more energy than they did in their 2-1 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks while overcoming yet another “incidental contact” waved-off goal, an early 12-to-1 shot disadvantage, a 1-0 first period deficit and a furious assault from a very motivated San Jose Sharks team… Before dropping a 3-1 decision thanks to a bang-bang play, a big boo-boo by Joey MacDonald and the kind of frantic, jittery and unfocused game—playing the Sharks’ game instead of slowing the pace of play down, establishing possession and control of the puck and using strong positional play and winger support to attack the Sharks’ net via sustained pressure and secondary and tertiary scoring opportunities. The Wings didn’t look quite like themselves for the second consecutive night, and they boarded an overnight flight to Phoenix sitting only 3 points ahead of the Sharks on a road trip that’s yielded a 1-1-and-1 record and enough bad breaks of the “earned” variety to drive the bleary-eyed fans who’ve stayed up to watch the Wings to the kind of distraction and agitation that the Wings have displayed on the ice of late. The Sharks were very justifiably satisfied with themselves after winning their eighth straight game and earning a 3-and-1 season series record over the Wings while happily trading rushes, banging the Red Wings’ defenders to generate turnovers, efficiently moving the puck around by cycling it down low and relentlessly attacking Joey MacDonald. The Sharks spoke glowingly of their effort to the Mercury News’s David Pollak... “It’s getting to the point at the end of the year that you can feel the fans getting excited,” Heatley said. “A team like Detroit, we notice it for sure.” The victory extended the Sharks’ season-high winning streak to eight games and pulled them within three points of the second-place Red Wings in the Western Conference standings with each team having 17 games to play. San Jose is 17-2-1 in its past 20 games. The only time the Sharks had even a little breathing room came late in the third period on a misplay by Detroit goalie Joey MacDonald that gave San Jose a two-goal lead with less than five minutes remaining. The play began with Joe Thornton sending the puck deep in the Detroit zone with Marleau in pursuit. MacDonald came far out of his net to play the puck, but his stick and Marleau’s reached the puck simultaneously. “I just got a little piece of it,” Marleau said. “He was shooting it at the same time, and it went off their d-man and into the net.” In a game where Sharks coach Todd McLellan was relatively satisfied with his team’s effort… “We got away from some of the things that we did well in the first 10 minutes, took some penalties, and I was worried it would be reminiscent of games in Detroit where they came out real strong and we ended up winning,” McLellan said. “Fortunately it didn’t end up that way.” And, as Pollak notes, his line machinations, which forced Wings coach Mike Babcock to shake up his lines, pairing Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk together with Johan Franzen, dropping Jiri Hudler to the Darren Helm-Kris Draper line, adding Justin Abdelkader to the Mike Modano-Tomas Holmstrom line and returning Valtteri Filppula his natural center’s position between Todd Bertuzzi and Danny Cleary: When Detroit coach Mike Babcock moved Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg onto the same line, McLellan countered by moving Marleau alongside Thornton and Devin Setoguchi. The move seemed to work as the Sharks regained the edge in play, keeping the puck deep in the Detroit zone for extended periods of time. McLellan had this to say to Pollak about his tweaks: “They put Pav and Hank together and I’m obviously aware of how good they can be. It wasn’t that Logan [Couture] couldn’t do the job, but I liked the bigger bodies with Patty [Marleau] and he could really skate. He was having a heck of a night…. It was Jumbo and Patty against Pav and Hank and anybody else that was out there. I thought they did a really good job.” Heatley, who was robbed of a hat trick by nothing more than poor aim when firing at the Wings’ empty net, noted that the Sharks “got started on time”... “The last few times we played them, they really outplayed us at the start of the game and that’s something we wanted to change tonight.” Heatley on his backcheck that broke up Detroit’s short-handed, odd-man rush: “We know their forwards on the PK like to attack and they’re pretty good short-handed throughout, so you’ve got to be aware when those guys are out there.” And then there was the “incidental contact” call which negated a game-tying first-period goal by Niklas Kronwall because Johan Franzen was, depending on your point of view, either preventing Antti Niemi from doing his job or simply doing his best to get out of the crease before Kronwall blasted a shot through Niemi: Antti Niemi on the interference call against Johan Franzen that waived off an apparent Detroit goal: “I didn’t know. I felt the puck hit my shoulder and I wasn’t sure at first. . . . You can never trust that they call it, so you’ve got to try and stop it anyway.” Heatley continued discussing the magnitude of the Sharks’ win in speaking to SJSharks.com... “I thought we really came out hard in the first 10-15 minutes and took control,” Heatley said. “We took a couple of penalties and let them back in a little bit. That last bit of the second and third we dominated pretty well. The last few times we played them they really outplayed us at the start of the game and that is something we wanted to change tonight.” “They are a good team and we are a good team. They are always good games,” Joe Thornton said. And, as the Sharks’ website notes, San Jose won their seventh game over their past 9 tangles with the Wings in no small part due to a costly gaffe by Joey MacDonald, who was superb otherwise in the Wings’ crease, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced in the 1st period... San Jose’s third goal was definitely a result of work, if not a conventional method. On the play, Patrick Marleau was driving on the forecheck and forced Joey MacDonald to rush his clearing attempt. Marleau got his stick on the puck and it went off an opposing blueliner and across the goal line. “I just got a little piece of it and it went off their D-man and in the net,” Marleau said. “I hit the puck and at the same time as MacDonald. I knew I got a piece of it.” McLellan felt that Marleau earned his bounce: [Marleau’s goal] “Its funny what happens when you go hard. I know the guys were bugging Heater. He had a wide open net and missed and Patty didn’t even shoot it and he scored. Sometimes you’ve got to get them ugly. Usually the hockey gods take care of you at the end of the night if you put the honest effort in. It doesn’t always go your way but it likely will.” The Dan Boyle-less Sharks reiterated their points of emphasis to the Associated Press’s Josh Dubow: “It’s fun to play them,” Heatley said. “We really respect them. Tonight you could feel it in the crowd. The fans were really into it. It’s getting to that point at the end of the year coming toward the playoffs. You can feel the fans get excited. Against a team like Detroit, we notice it for sure.” “We wanted to get a quick start knowing they played in Anaheim last night,” captain Joe Thornton said. “They’re a good team, we’re a good team. These are always good games. It really doesn’t matter who we play against right now, we have to get wins.” The Red Wings, on the other hand, could only shake their heads at bad luck, bad bounces and an inconsistent effort: Joey MacDonald made 25 saves, including a tough stop on Devin Setoguchi early in the third and another on a deflection by Jamal Mayers later in the period that kept Detroit in the game. But the Red Wings were unable to generate any strong scoring chances in the third before the Sharks put it away with a fluky goal. Patrick Marleau was chasing after a dump in when MacDonald came out of his net to try to clear the puck. But the MacDonald hit the puck off Marleau’s stick and it deflected off a defenseman and into the Detroit net for Marleau’s 25th goal of the season. “One of those bounces,” MacDonald said. “It was one of those nights, a lot of bounces. Hey, we were in it right to the end. It was a 2-1 game.” After going 1 for 9 on the power play Wednesday and failing to convert their first chance this game, the Red Wings finally broke through on the man advantage late in the first after Justin Braun was called for delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass. Detroit had one goal waved off because Johan Franzen made contact with Niemi, but Holmstrom broke through when he tipped Mike Modano’s shot past Niemi for the equalizer. “The bottom line is we have to skate better than we did tonight as a group,” coach Mike Babcock said. “Our big guys in particular have to skate better, but they played hard minutes last night. But the bottom line is we think we can skate better as a team and we can spend more time in the offensive zone. But I wasn’t disappointed in our effort tonight.” Player comments aside, it’s important to take a gander at the game’s narrative, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James provides a superb recap of the game’s events for those of you who couldn’t stay up to watch the game: IN THE FIRST: The Sharks owned the puck the first several minutes of the game and were rewarded for their relentlessness when Patrick Marleau circled the behind the net and nearly all the way to the blue line before dropping off a pass that Ian White sent to the net, where Dany Heatley completed the job, at 3:51. Five minutes into the game, the Sharks had a 9-1 shot advantage. The Wings thought they tied the game on their second power play when Niklas Kronwall’s shot sailed in behind Antti Niemi, but it was waived off because of a goalie interference call on Johan Franzen. There was no such issue the next time the next time the puck went in San Jose’s net. This time, Pavel Datsyuk played the puck along the blue line to Nicklas Lidstrom, who found Mike Modano. Modano snapped a shot on net that Holmstrom tipped, making it 1-1 at the end of 20 minutes. IN THE SECOND: Heatley scored again 3:54 into the second period and 40 seconds into a Sharks power play, when he deflected Joe Pavelski’s shot while stationed just outside the crease. The Wings outshot the Sharks, 12-5, in the second period. The second goal was particularly ugly because Valtteri Filppula lost a faceoff at the right dot in the Wings’ zone, and as both Ruslan Salei and Jonathan Ericsson chased after the player Joe Thornton slid the puck to on a side-to-side play, and Filppula stuck with Thornton, Pavelski reversed the flow and slid the puck to Heatley, who tapped the puck between MacDonald’s legs before Justin Abdelkader could make his way from the right side boards to cover his man. Heatley also snuck into the lip of the crease on his first goal and banged home a rebound while Pavel Datsyuk was subbing for an out-of-position Brad Stuart, leaving Heatley uncovered. Datsyuk and Lidstrom finished at -2, but didn’t necessarily earn their minuses as they were two of the Wings’ few consistent performers. IN THE THIRD: The Wings were thwarted in the third period as the Sharks kept them to the outside while continuing to attack MacDonald. Patrick Marleau got credit for the goal with 4:12 left, which saw MacDonald come out to play the puck only to have it hit the stick of Marleau and redirect into an open net. Statistics never tell the whole story, or even part of it, but Chris Chelios came down to speak with Fox Sports Detroit’s Ken Daniels and Larry Murphy after noting another out-of-character occurrence: OUT OF BREATH: During one sequence in the second period, the Sharks had the Wings so hemmed into their own zone that Brad Stuart ended up being on the ice for 2:53, while Danny Cleary was on for 2:41 straight. Valtteri Filppula also had a 2:35 shift in the second period, and the vast majority of the Wings’ players who don’t play 90-plus second shifts on the power play or PK stayed out for at or around the 90-second mark, sometimes on multiple occasions. The Wings’ attention to detail was sorely lacking in many respects on Thursday, and their long shifts were merely part of the problem on a night where the Wings never seemed to gain their trademark poise with or without the puck. They spent most of the evening either losing one-on-one battles for the puck because no teammates supported them, fruitlessly attempting to skate through the neutral zone and attack the Sharks’ net—which they very rarely reached—as individuals instead of a team, trying to do far too much on their own (and the Wings missed Brian Rafalski’s puck-moving ability, big time, in terms of getting their transition game on track), and/or chasing the Sharks’ puck-carriers around the ice. The Sharks sealed their slot and diffused the Wings’ play while forcing them to play the whole night, if not on their heels, than perhaps on the run, constantly chased down by a team that wasn’t bigger, stronger, or faster than the Wings per se, but was simply hungrier, more determined and more focused upon exploiting a Wings team somewhat mentally drained from their 2-1 OT loss to the Ducks on Thursday. Babcock told St. James that he expected the Sharks to get the jump on the Wings early on: “Any time you play back-to-back nights, you know the other team is going to come out flying,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought we did a good job getting the power play goal to come back and make it 2-1, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t disappointed with our effort tonight.” “I knew the first 10 minutes was going to be like it was,” Babcock said. “You’re trying to survive that and you’re hoping Joey is going to be able to hold up, and I thought he did a real good job for us. We got through that and then we got the power play going. I thought we played really well in the second period, took most of the second period over and played well. I thought we did a good job for back-to-back nights, I thought we hung in there real good.” The Wings did out-shoot the Sharks 12-5 in the second period, but not only were out-shot 8-5 in the third period, but on a night where the Wings’ fit-and-finish simply wasn’t there, they went an ugly 25-and-37 in the faceoff circle and had 21 shots blocked and fired 12 wide (in other words, the Wings put more pucks into Sharks players or fired ‘em wide of the net than the 27 that hit or went by Niemi). As St. James notes, the only time the Wings did look like themselves was on Tomas Holmstrom’s then game-tying goal near the end of the first period. Pavel Datsyuk won a faceoff at the right dot, the Sharks snagged the puck but Nicklas Lidstrom kept the puck in, tossed it over to Mike Modano and he fired a shot on the net that was tipped by Tomas Holmstrom: I can’t fault the Wings’ effort as they did work their butts off, and Detroit’s players accentuated that hard-working positive (sometimes hard work gets you nowhere, no matter how hard you try, and the Wings looked like they were playing in quicksand at times): “First period, they had the start, but I think we came back and played a decent first,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “Then after that, it was a back-and-forth game all the time. I think we battled, but unfortunately we couldn’t score enough goals.” “I thought we battled hard,” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “They got the 2-1 goal on the power play where it looked like they had a set play gong and we didn’t recover quick enough. But I thought we did battle hard.” Brad Stuart “thirded” Zetterberg and Lidstrom’s assessments while speaking to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan... “We know we’re still a good team and they’re good team (too),” defenseman Brad Stuart said. “They’re playing real well right now. They’ve definitely played well against us and seem to get up against us.” And after Joey MacDonald sighed about the dagger-in-the-heart goal, which also involved a defenseman who was channeling his inner Andreas Lilja again... Marleau and Jonathan Ericsson went rushing for the puck, MacDonald came out to play it, but as MacDonald whacked at it, the puck batted off either the stick of Ericsson or Marleau and fluttered into the net at 15:48 of the third period. “The three of us got there at the same time,” MacDonald said. “I got there first and shot it, and I don’t know if it hit our defenseman, or their guy, but it went into the net. One of those bounces.” The captain did get down to brass tacks: Both teams were 1 for 3 on the power play. But overall, the Wings would have preferred to have generated more traffic in front of Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (26 saves). Too often, the Wings played on the perimeter and made life a little easier for Niemi. “The last couple of games we scored a goal each (game),” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “We have to do a better job of driving to the net.” We’ll head back to the Sharks’ website for a moment as it posted a slate of Babcock comments worth repeating: “I thought we got through the first ten minutes. We got the game at 1-1. I thought we were better there than in the second period. In the end they scored a power play goal there to go up 2-1. But I thought it was a real good road game for us here tonight.” “We were on back-to-back nights and I thought we did lots of good things. Unfortunately, that bounce there, I thought we were going to tie it up. In the end, that third goal made it harder.” “Anytime you play back to back nights, you know the other team is going to come out flying. I thought we did a good job getting the power play goal to come back and make it 1-1, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Babcock also addressed his line-tweaking while speaking to MLive’s Ansar Khan, who notes that Johan Franzen, despite extremely strong play of late, hasn’t scored a goal in 14 games: “I just tried to get whoever’s playing, playing,’’ Babcock said. He liked the energy his third and fourth lines provided, but said, “The bottom line is we got to skate better than we did tonight as a group. Our big guys got to skate better. They played hard minutes last night on that bad ice in Anaheim, so I think that affects you, but I think we can skate better as a team and spend more time in the offensive zone.’‘ That’s the understatement of March, thus far, anyway. Again, overall, the Wings tried to accentuate the positive before heading to Phoenix for what Babcock told Trevor Thompson would be a full day off—no practice, though the Wings may call up a defenseman from Grand Rapids in case Ruslan Salei’s wife delivers the couple’s third child—for a team that will play its fourth game in six nights against the Coyotes on Saturday: “We did battle hard,’’ Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “It was a playoff-type game, just like we had at home against them last week (4-3 loss on Feb. 22). You know these games are going to be tight and you have to play well defensively.’‘ “They’re a good team, they’re playing really well right now,’’ Stuart said. “When it comes down to it, I know we’ll be better than we were tonight. They’ve played well against us, they seem to get up for us.’‘ “Any way you look at it they’re seven (wins) and we’re two (since last year’s playoff series),’’ Babcock said. “We’ll have to have another little playoff series to figure that out.’‘ With only 17 games left before the playoffs, however, and a slate of incredibly inconsistent efforts over the past two months, even now that the team’s relatively healthy, the Wings need to sort themselves out and reestablish the kind of identity grounded in patient, poised and prototypical Red Wings hockey that the team displayed over the first quarter of the regular season. Hopefully, the Wings will start getting their collective head back together and their work ethic back in the right, focused place on Saturday against Phoenix. If not, this sleep-deprived Red Wings fan who’s working on two hours over the last 24 thanks to ferrying a friend to a court date on Thursday morning will admittedly issue a few expletives, at least at the TV, before pretending that I’m biased but somewhat professional while cobbling the Wings-Yotes recap together on Sunday morning. Highlights: ESPN posted a 34-second highlight clip; Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area posted a 1:41 highlight clip: And NHL.com’s four-and-a-half minute highlight clip is narrated by Ken Daniels and Larry Murphy: Post-game: Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area posted Todd McLellan’s post-game presser… And interviews with Patrick Marleau… And an on-ice interview with Dany Heatley: To spare you from Flash overload, here are links to the Sharks’ website’s offerings, including McLellan’s presser, Joe Thornton’s post-game comments, Dany Heatley’s media scrum and Patrick Marleau’s media scrum; And Fox Sports Detroit posted Ken Daniels and Larry Murphy’s take on the game, as well as a 2:42 clip of Trevor Thompson’s interview with Wings coach Mike Babcock and the media scrums of Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller. Photos: The Detroit Free Press posted a 12-image gallery; The Mercury News embedded a 4-image gallery in its website’s recap; NHL.com posted a 32-image gallery; Yahoo Sports posted a 22-image gallery; Statistics: Shots 28-27 San Jose overall, breaking down as 15-10 San Jose in the 1st period, 12-5 Detroit in the 2nd period and 8-5 San Jose in the 3rd period. The Wings went 1-for-3 in 5:10 of PP time and the Sharks went 1-for-3 in 4:40 of PP time. MacDonald stopped 25 of 28 shots against; Niemi stopped 26 of 27. Our goal: Holmstrom (14) from Modano (8) and Lidstrom (39). The 3 stars, per Dan Rusanowsky: Niemi, Marleau and Heatley. Faceoffs: 37-25 San Jose (40% won by Detroit); Blocked shots: 21-16 San Jose; Missed shots: 17-12 San Jose (total attempted shots 61-60 Sharks); Hits: 24-18 San Jose; Giveaways: 12-9 San Jose; Takeaways: 11-10 San Jose. Faceoffs: Datsyuk went 8-and-6 (57%); Zetterberg went 5-and-9 (36%); Filppula went 4-and-7 (36%); Modano went 4-and-6 (40%); Helm went 3-and-4 (43%); Draper went 1-and-1 (50%); Franzen went 0-and-2; both Abdelkader and Cleary lost single faceoffs. Shots: Abdelkader led the team with 5 shots; Stuart and Kronwall had 4; Hudler, Helm and Franzen had 2; Kindl, Lidstrom, Cleary, Draper, Filppula, Ericsson, Modano and Holmstrom had 1. Blocked attempts: Zetterberg and Bertuzzi had 3 shot attempts blocked; Lidstrom, Cleary and Franzen had 2 shot attempts blocked by Sharks players; Kindl, Abdelkader, Datsyuk, Stuart, Salei, Hudler, Ericsson, Kronwall and Modano had 1 shot attempt blocked. Missed shots: Stuart, Salei, Draper and Zetterberg missed the net 2 times; Abdelkader, Cleary, Hudler and Franzen missed the net 1 time. Hits: Abdelkader led the team with 4 hits; Franzen had 3; Salei, Bertuzzi and Kronwall had 2; Cleary, Datsyuk, Stuart, Helm and Holmstrom had 1. Giveaways: Joey MacDonald had 2 giveaways; Kindl, Stuart, Helm, Ericsson, Kronwall, Franzen and Holmstrom had 1 giveaway. Takeaways: Filppula had 3 takeaways; Datsyuk, Stuart, Draper, Zetterberg, Bertuzzi, Franzen and Holmstrom had 1. Blocked opponent shots: Stuart blocked 4 shots; Lidstrom blocked 3; Filppula and Kronwall blocked 2; Datsyuk, Salei, Bertuzzi, Ericsson and Holmstrom blocked 1 shot. Penalties taken: Kindl, Draper, Kronwall, Franzen and Modano were tagged with minor penalties. Plus-minus: Lidstrom and Datsyuk finished at -2; Cleary, Stuart, Hudler, Ericsson, Franzen and Holmstrom finished at -1, so the team was a collective -10. Points: Holmstrom had a goal; Modano and Lidstrom had assists. Ice time: Kronwall led the team with 24:35 played; Lidstrom played 24:28; Stuart played 22:19; Zetterberg played 19:25; Filppula played 18:58; Ericsson played 18:48; Franzen played 18:44; Datsyuk played 17:51; Bertuzzi played 16:23; Cleary played 16:13; Salei played 14:46; Modano played 13:34; Holmstrom played 13:09; Abdelkader played 13:00; Kindl played 12:42; Hudler played 11:25; Draper played 9:26; Helm played 9:26. Part II: Red Wings notes: • You know how I mentioned Darren Dreger’s suggestion that the Wings could move to the Eastern Conference yesterday, suggesting that it was poppycock? MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke to Wings VP Jimmy Devellano about the suggestion, and he responded as follows: “I don’t foresee any shift of any franchises, based on what I know, and I’m in tune with what’s happening in the league,” Devellano said. Reports out of Canada this week suggest that the Phoenix Coyotes or Atlanta Thrashers could potentially relocate to Winnipeg as soon as next season. A move by Phoenix would not affect the Red Wings. But if Atlanta were to shift to Winnipeg, a Western Conference club would move to the East, and that could be Detroit. But it’s moot, Devellano said, because no team is going anywhere. “I think that’s pure Toronto media (speculation),” Devellano said. “It’s about getting another franchise in Canada. Let’s hope someday they do. (But) I’m told the Phoenix thing (Matthew Hulsizer’s deal with the city of Glendale to purchase the Coyotes) is just about done. I haven’t heard about Atlanta or anybody else (possibly relocating). As much as we would like to come to the East, there’s nothing to it.” Mike Modano also offered a solution for the Wings’ sputtering power play (more on that below from St. James): “Just shoot it,” Modano said. “If they want to block it, pound away. If they want to keep getting in front of it, just keep shooting and then things kind of open up, as far as back door and cross the seam. But if you look for that before the shot your percentage is going to be low.” • The Free Press’s Helene St. James offers a much-needed update on the status of Brian Rafalski. Jakub Kindl’s done a fantastic job of stepping up to give the Wings a third dedicated offensive defenseman (alongside Lidstrom and Kronwall) recently, but nobody can replace Rafalski’s offensive talent, even with Brad Stuart rounding into form as a superb compliment to Lidstrom: Defenseman Brian Rafalski, out since Saturday’s game at Buffalo because of back spasms, was sent home Thursday. “He woke up and wasn’t feeling great, so we sent him home,” general manager Ken Holland said. Holland said Rafalski, who missed a game in December for the same reason, might go see a specialist, but Rafalski “isn’t concerned it’s serious,” Holland said. “We just think he needs more rest.” St. James also spoke to the Wings about their sometimes-sputtering power play… The Wings’ power play has perplexed most of the season, seemingly ineffective on many nights – such as Wednesday’s 1-for-9 performance – yet it still ranks fifth overall in the NHL at 21.4%. Babcock has been very vocal about wanting his power play personnel to take more shots – or just any, really – but for the players on the ice, there’s a decision to be made whether to try a shot when a lane is blocked, or pass and hope a teammate has a clearer angle. “You don’t want to take the shot and have it blocked, because you can see you can’t get it through,” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “It’s hard when you’re standing there by the point and you’ve got to get it by two guys – the first forward, and then to have a D stepping out. It makes it harder to shoot from the point.” The Wings went 1-for-3 against the Sharks. “I didn’t love the power play, I thought it was OK, but I didn’t love it,” Babcock said. “But their penalty kill is good, too.” And she both spoke to Brad Stuart about “battling” through his long shift and discussed the fact that Pavel Datsyuk’s posted 13 points in the 12 games he’s played since returning from a broken wrist. His teammates aren’t surprised at all by Datsyuk’s ability to both return to dominant form and resuscitate Jiri Hudler’s season: “I think Pavel’s been great,” coach Mike Babcock said. “I mean, he’s been our best forward for sure this last while. Z carried us for a long time there, but since he (Datsyuk) has come back, he’s fresh and he’s jumping.” “He’s huge for us, there’s no doubt about that,” Niklas Kronwall said of Datsyuk. “He’s a top player in this league, there’s no doubt about that. Just the plays he makes out there and the room that he creates for his linemates, it’s pretty remarkable to see every night.” • Mike Modano agreed while speaking to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan about Datsyuk: Since he has returned, Datsyuk has 13 points (eight goals, five assists). And there have been so many jaw-dropping plays. A beautiful goal against Los Angeles that featured great stickhandling before a dead-eye shot. Banking a shot off goalie Dan Ellis in Anaheim. Three goals in games against Tampa Bay and Anaheim where Datsyuk was unquestionably the best player on the ice. “He’s just a world-class player,” Mike Modano said. Datsyuk himself, however, thinks that he’s got some room for improvement: “I feel OK but I think I can play better,” Datsyuk said. “It’s a long time. It’s (difficult) to come back in perfect shape. I’ve never had that before.” Oddly enough, Modano, who’s given the Wings nothing less than fantastic play as a capable third-line center with size, superb speed, good faceoff-winning ability, still-healing wrist included, and a power play point man while helping Valtteri Filppula slowly regain his form offered a similar assessment of his play: “Still pretty average,” said Modano of how he was feeling. “Not great. Just catching up to speed.” Kulfan also offers a few slightly different quips from Babcock and Lidstrom about the team’s power play issues, but Brad Stuart’s comment about the fact that the Wings had to stay over in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and fly into San Jose on Thursday morning merits spotlighting: “I kind of liked it,” Brad Stuart said. “We got back to the hotel last night and had a good meal and were able to get to bed a little earlier. You probably don’t skate (in the morning) on a back-to-back anyway. It’s a quick little flight (from Anaheim to San Jose) and we got in, had lunch. I liked it, actually.” I like mornings as long as I’m allowed to watch the sun rise and then promptly go to bed after a productive night, so I’m not qualified to comment here. Part III: Also of Red Wings-related note: I don’t want to bombard you with any more mandatory reading regarding the news from Boston University researchers that former Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert was suffering from a degenerative neurological condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. I thought that Dani Probert rather elegantly told the Windsor Star that, in fulfilling her husband’s wishes, she was not attempting to encourage the NHL to ban fighting, but instead to further discussions as to how to better diagnose head injuries and ensure that players are safer by talking about the issue The link I just posted includes a few stories from the Detroit Free Press and New York Times, among other sources, and if you’re interested in Boston University’s note about the findings, the takes of the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc and the Los Angeles Times’ Helene Elliott, the Northwest Herald’s Rick Telander, or that of the Vancouver Province’s Cam Cole, a report by the Detroit News’s Rod Beard or a video from WXYZ, please do so on your own. My only agenda mirrors that of Mrs. Probert—I suffered a severe concussion five years ago, and it took me a full year to recover from the symptoms, and all I received after 2 CT scans and a brief hospitalization was a pamphlet that, in effect, said, “Congratulations! You have a concussion!” I’d like to see the NHL and all sports leagues do more to properly diagnose concussions, regardless of how a player suffers them, and I’d like to see the science of understanding concussions so that people can be actually treated for an injury that we simply cannot do anything to help save waiting for the brain to heal itself, if it chooses to do so. Whether that involves giving referees the discretion to call penalties on the kinds of gratuitous hits to the head that broke Brad Stuart’s jaw or something else, that’s not really my place to say right now. • So let’s go with this as a closer, per the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa: Mark Recchi tied Scott Stevens for sixth place on the NHL list for games (1,635). Recchi is scheduled to tie Dave Andreychuk (1,639) a week from tonight against the Islanders. Assuming good health, Recchi will tie Chris Chelios (1,651) for fourth place April 6 against the Islanders. • As I always find something after I “finish” a blog post, maybe we can go with this from Nicholas J. Cotsonika instead: Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland looks like a genius for signing goaltender Jimmy Howard to an extension with a $2.25 million cap hit just before the San Jose Sharks signed Antti Niemi to one with a $3.8 million cap hit. By convincing players to fit his salary structure, Holland has been able to keep his roster deeper than almost any other in the league. That said, Howard still received enough of a raise from the $717,667 he is making this year that Holland might have to trim a player next season. That depends on whether the salary cap goes up, which it probably will, but one way or another, with Mursak and Emmerton coming up and Smith possibly following them, there will be changes to the roster this summer. Add a Comment Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide. Most Recent Blog Posts About The Malik Report The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878 Keeping your garden tidy can seem like a never-ending duel between you and the crafty undomesticated plants we call weeds. But don’t forget that the ancestors of every common garden plant were once considered weeds themselves. That was until we discovered their merits and began to mold and tame their wild ways to suit our culinary or agricultural preferences. Many plants that are still classified as weeds though have received a bad reputation due to their ability to quickly cultivate the barren earth. But was fertile soil really meant to be left bare?* Could it be that weeds are serving a much-needed purpose in your garden or lawn? And could it be that these pesky weeds are in fact just as nutritious, or more so, than the plants you’re “protecting” from them? Let’s explore what some of these “pesky” common weeds have to offer for both your health and the health of your garden. Much of the nutrients in soil are lost to the elements when the ground is left bare, either by being baked out (by the sun) or washed out (by rain.) NB: Although many weeds are beneficial to have in your garden, I am not recommending that you simply let them run rampant. Having a beautiful healthy garden is about maintaining a balance between protecting and nourishing the soil and managing the growth of all the plants you are caring for. We still weed our garden selectively, after the weeds have had a chance to break up and fertilize the soil. “A weed is but an unloved flower.” ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox This is my personal favorite weed. It is soft to step on, has beautiful flowers and protects and fertilizes soil at the same time. Companion plant for: Brassica (cabbage and its cousins like broccoli and cauliflower), corn, cucurbits (cucumber, squash, melons, gourds). Along with clover’s ability to bring nitrogen back into depleted soil (hosts nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its roots) clover also benefits many plants by stabilizing the moisture around their roots. Edibility: Clover is a high-protein legume, but is not generally eaten, although it is a viable food source. Advisory: Do not grow near nightshades (tomato, pepper, eggplant). This plant can overtake a garden quickly, but you get even by simply eating it. Japanese Knotweed [Fallopia japonica]: Companion plant for: Unknown. This is classified as a noxious weed and is unwise to plant purposely. Attracts/hosts: Butterflies and other beneficial insects. Edibility: This weed is edible and easy to harvest. Simply break off the new shoots and the top four inches of larger plants. They can be sautéed or grilled like asparagus. This plant is also compared to rhubarb and can be used in the same fashion. Advisory: Do not intentionally plant this in your garden as it can quickly take over. Best to harvest for dinner if you see it growing on your property. Stinging nettles are nutritious, make a wonderful fertilizer for your garden and contain many medicinal properties. Nettles [Urtica Dioica]: Companion Plant for: Broccoli, tomato, Valarian, mint, fennel. Edibility: Despite its “sting”, much of the plant is edible, when blanched, steamed or dried. Stinging nettles are an excellent source of vitamins A, B and C, as well as minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc. They have been used to treat conditions like arthritis and seasonal allergies for many years. Advisory: It is best to carefully dig this weed out of the garden (with gloves on) and keep it in a pot. Although this plant is worth having around, its sting is still painful. Japanese Knotweed photo by: thelazygardener “A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.” I still remember the joy of picking dandelion puffballs and blowing their soft seeds into the air. While those that dream of a weed-free lawn or garden might shudder at the idea, dandelions have much more to offer than amusement to a child. Companion plant for: Various grains and tomato plants. Dandelion tap roots break up hardened soil and bring up nutrients from deep down, benefiting plants with weaker or shallower roots without competing with them. Edibility: Young leaves and flowers are edible and delicious fresh in a salad, while older greens are better steamed or stir-fried. Dandelions are high in iron, potassium, beta-carotene and vitamins A, C and D. Both the leaves and root can also be made into a wonderful detox tea. If you happen to live with a rescued rabbit, they will also love this nutritious addition to their usual diet. The plantain family is an important group of weeds for anyone interested in natural medicine to know about. Companion plant for: Unknown. Edibility: Remove the ribs and eat leaves steamed or fresh in a salad (the seeds are also edible.) Plantain leaves have been used medicinally both internally and externally for thousands of years. Internal usage: cholesterol, constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, indigestion, irritable bowel, kidney/bladder inflammation, liver problems, mouth ulcers/canker sores, liver problems, uterine tonic. External usage: bites/stings, eczema/psoriasis, cuts/bleeding wounds, leucorrhea/yeast, rashes/contact dermatitis, toothaches, ulcers/cold sores, varicose veins. Advisory: Do to plantain’s medicinal nature and edibility it is worth growing somewhere in your garden whether it volunteers itself or not. Common Chickweed [Stellaria media]: Companion plant for: I have found that chickweed is best pulled out of the garden or grown in a patch of its own (see “Advisory” section). Edibility: Chickweed is nutritious and a wonderful addition to a fresh salad. This creeping annual is high in vitamins A, D and B, as well as minerals like iron, calcium and potassium. Chickweed is used as a diuretic, an appetite suppressant and to help treat asthma, allergies and bronchitis. Advisory: Chickweed can overtake other plants very quickly, so keep on top of harvesting this fast growing plant. Purslane is enjoyed in a number of countries as a salad or stir-fry green. It is not only pretty to look at, but an excellent source of essential nutrients. Purslane [Portulaca oleracea]: Companion plant for: Corn, solanums (like tomatoes and peppers). Edibility: Purslane contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable. It is also high in antioxidants like vitamins A, C and E, and essential minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium. You can enjoy it in a salad, stir-fried, or cooked like spinach (the berries are also eaten like capers.) It has also been used to treat gastrula intentional gastro-intestinal disorders, as well as to relieve sores and insect or snake bites on the skin. Advisory: In the Gentle World garden, I have noticed that purslane does seem to crowd out young shoots, but does not seem to affect established plants. For this reason, I think it is best to harvest purslane growing near young shoots until they mature. Sheep sorrel has a tangy flavor and many wonderful medicinal properties. Sheep’s Sorrel [Rumex acetosella] : Companion plant for: Sheep’s sorrel is a weed worth growing in your garden, so if you find it thriving there, naturally leave as much as you can without overcrowding other plants. Edibility: This weed has wonderful health benefits. It is one of the plants in the Essiac formula (a recipe purported to aid cancer sufferers) and Native American Camas Prairie tea. Sorrel is great in soups, salads and sauces as its tangy sour flavor works well in most meals. Advisory: Experiment with allowing sheep’s sorrel to grow underneath taller plants. This weed is not only beautiful, but many enjoy having it around as well. Ground Ivy [Glechoma hederacea]: Companion plant for: Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and their relatives (squash, melons), broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower. Repels: Cabbage worms, cucumber worms and beetles, tomato horn worms and other detrimental insects. Edibility: Ground ivy has long been used in traditional medicine for issues such as inflammation of the eyes, tinnitus, as well as a gentle stimulant, diuretic, astringent and overall tonic. It can be used in herbal tea and is high in vitamin C. The purple flowers in this picture are wild vetch. Vetch is a wonderful green manure and cover crop. As you can see from this picture though, it can grow quite tall so it is best to allow it to flourish in between crops. Wild vetch (Vicia Americana): Companion plant for: Pepper and tomato plants, brassica (cabbage, mustard, broccoli), other plants needing high nitrogen. This legume fixes nitrogen in the soil. Atrracts/hosts: Provides ground cover for predatory beetles. Edibility: Some species of vetch may be poisonous, so it’s best not to eat any form. Avisory: Vetch is best used as a green cover crop. Allow it to grow until two weeks before planting and then till the vetch into the soil (although it can also be grown alongside plants from the brassica family to provide additional nitrogen and maintain moisture in the soil.) *There are many varieties of vetch. As you can see, many common weeds have more to them than meets the eye. Get to know the weeds in your garden and listen to what they are telling you about the condition of your soil. They have much to offer in terms of creating a healthy garden or meal! Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
We found 250 additional articles filed under Justice. They're listed below, most recent first. - Roma Redux 05/09/2013 -- Senior correspondent and photojournalist for Response shares photos and stories from his journeys visiting Roma communities in Serbia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. - Operation HOPE Goes on Ubuntu Journey 04/29/2013 -- It would have been unheard of some eight years ago for members of Operation HOPE to be going on an Ubuntu trip. That was a time when these HIV-positive women were struggling to survive. - “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me” 04/29/2013 -- This reflection is from the World Day of Prayer Worship Service in the Republic of Ireland inspired by Matthew 25: 31-46. - United Methodist Women Listens to Nebraskan Farmers 04/19/2013 -- A Canadian corporation plans to build the Keystone XL Pipeline across Nebraska. A delegation of United Methodist Women leaders and staff traveled there in April 2013 to listen to Nebraskan farm families directly affected by the proposed pipeline. - United Methodist Women Honored for Anti-Hate Campaign 04/08/2013 -- The Muslim Consultative Network honored United Methodist Women, Sojourners and T’ruah for “standing against anti-Muslim bigotry” at their Third Annual Gala on April 4 in New York. - On Equal Pay Day, Fight for Equal Pay for Women! 04/01/2013 -- Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor both the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 84/H.R. 377) and the Fair Minimum Wage Act (S. 460/H.R. 1010). - African Women Mobilize to Build Peace 03/20/2013 -- United Methodist women from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda explored their roles as women peace builders in a three-day conference at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, Mar. 18-20. Women from Mozambique also attended the event cosponsore... - I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me 03/14/2013 -- The first Friday of March is, for many women around the world, a special day of prayer. It is, in fact, the World Day of Prayer (WDP). “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” is the celebratory theme of this year’s service prepared by the WDP Committee in ... - Message From the President 03/13/2013 -- United Methodist Women is the “right place” for women seeking to use their talents and gifts to help others, said Yvette Richards, president of the organization’s board of directors in her address to the new program advisory group assembled for its first ... - Olson Reports to Program Advisory Group 03/11/2013 -- Olson: ‘A Fresh Wind Is Blowing in United Methodist Women.’ - New Program Advisory Group Meets 03/11/2013 -- United Methodist Women’s new program advisory group gathered for its first annual meeting at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn., Mar. 7-9. - A United Methodist Women-Organized March Rallies to Mark International Women's Day 03/07/2013 -- To mark International Women’s Day, United Methodist Women is among five organizations coordinating a March 8 rally and march near the United Nations. - On the Mountaintop 03/05/2013 -- On a spiritual journey, United Methodist Women can help you reach your peak. - United Methodist Women to Participate in U.N. Women's Events 03/01/2013 -- A delegation sponsored by United Methodist Women will spend the next week focusing on education and advocacy around the theme of the commission’s 57th session— to eliminate and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls. - Prayer Calendar Reflection: April 2013 02/28/2013 -- The Prayer Calendar is a tool of advocacy. Advocacy allows us to be agents of transformation by calling us to change the systems. - Demand A Plan on Gun Violence 02/28/2013 -- The senseless killing of 20 innocent children and the six adults charged with their education has catalyzed the call to action. Will you respond to former Rep. Gabby Giffords’s challenge “to do something”? - Join Us in March, Side Events at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women 02/15/2013 -- United Methodist Women will participate in CSW-57 by bringing an international delegation that will work with ecumenical and secular partners to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls. - Food and Hunger 02/05/2013 -- While overnutrition and undernutrition seem to be polar opposites, they are both forms of malnutrition. - Hunger and Poverty 02/05/2013 -- The main cause of hunger is poverty and lack of power to access nutritious food. - United Methodist Women Launches Principles to Immigration Reform 02/01/2013 -- United Methodist Women offers core principles on immigration reform to guide us in the intense national debate and negotiations ahead. - How Can You Take Action to Reduce Gun Violence? 02/01/2013 -- Here are things that you can do to encourage Congress to take action against gun violence. - A Mining Showdown in the Philippines 02/01/2013 -- Church activists side with the poor and a threatened environment. - Breaking Rocks and Barriers 02/01/2013 -- For 15 years Sheralin Greene broke barriers every day as a coal miner in Harlan County, Ky., where 98 percent of miners are male and 90 percent are white. - The Fiscal Cliff Averted (for Now) 01/28/2013 -- Congress’ actions have prevented the initial collision of tax hikes and spending cuts that created the fiscal cliff, but the war over the U.S. deficit and budget is still being waged in the halls of Congress. - United Methodist Women Joins Ecumenical Call for Commonsense Gun Laws 01/17/2013 -- United Methodist Women joined more than 40 national faith groups signing a Jan. 14 ecumenical letter to both houses of the U.S. Congress asking for commonsense legislation to reduce gun violence. - Revisiting the Rev. King’s Call to Action in His “Beyond Vietnam” Speech 01/15/2013 -- Reflecting on passages from his “Beyond Vietnam” speech reveals Dr. King’s words as enduringly prophetic and persistent. - Responsively Yours: Seek Peace and Pursue It 01/01/2013 -- A critical part of our peacemaking work is directing the attention of global policymakers to issues raised by grassroots women around the world. - Cordialmente Suya: Busca la Paz y Trata de Hacerla Realidad 01/01/2013 -- Desde hace muchos años, las mujeres, la paz y la seguridad han sido muy importantes para las Mujeres Metodistas Unidas y para nuestros antepasados. - Korean PDF - Responsively Yours: Seek Peace and Pursue It 01/01/2013 -- Korean version of the monthly installment by Harriett Jane Olson. A critical part of our peacemaking work is directing the attention of global policymakers to issues raised by grassroots women around the world. - A Child Is Born, God Is With Us 12/19/2012 -- What we know, without doubt, is that God is with us. The power of the Christ child, born on Christmas day, is God’s demonstration that love takes risks. - Participate in the Sabbath to Stop Gun Violence 12/18/2012 -- On January 5 and 6, 2013, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is organizing a Sabbath to Stop Gun Violence. - Grassroots International: Palestine 12/17/2012 -- In the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Nil’in, just outside of Ramallah, 30 women have used the power of honey to keep their communities – and their livelihoods – cohesive and resolute. - Land Grabbing 12/07/2012 -- The large-scale acquisition of land traditionally used by local communities, “land grabbing,” has accelerated exponentially, resulting in record levels of hunger, displacement and environmental degradation. - The Right to Food 12/07/2012 -- When the world can produce more than enough food to adequately feed the global population, it shames us all that hunger and malnutrition exist. - Nelly's Story 12/07/2012 -- In a village in Zambia, Nelly and her family once depended exclusively on chemical fertilizers to produce the crops on their farm. As years went by, the quality of their soil degraded to a point that hunger and poverty took over the family’s already preca... - Hope Is Born in Bethlehem Centers 12/01/2012 -- Bethlehem Centers is not only important for the community of North Nashville; it’s an important part of U.S. race relations history. It was founded in 1894 when Sallie Hill Sawyer, a black woman, and Estelle Haskins, who was white, joined forces to start ... - African American Leaders Fight HIV/AIDS 11/30/2012 -- World AIDS Day is this Saturday, December 1. Sharing stories like McKie’s is one way that we honor the struggles of people who are affected by this epidemic. It also shows the evolving face of the disease. - Violence in Gaza: What United Methodist Women Supports in Israel-Palestine 11/29/2012 -- We grieve over this and call on United Methodist women to keep the conflict in your prayers and thoughts. United Methodist Women supports many projects in Israel-Palestine. - Introducing Food Justice 11/14/2012 -- Hunger and poverty have a cyclical relationship. - The Impact of Food Prices on Peace and Security 11/14/2012 -- The poorest households in the developing world spend up to 60 to 80% of their incomes on food. - Batis Center for Women 11/13/2012 -- United Methodist Women‘s International Ministries with Women, Children & Youth supports the Batis Center for Women in the Philippines. - A Circle of Thanksgiving 11/01/2012 -- What does the national Thanksgving holiday mean for Native American peoples? - Hershey's Fair Trade 11/01/2012 -- United Methodist voices help persuade chocolate company to address child labor. - Reflection on Hate Speech and the Response of United Methodist Women 10/24/2012 -- The founding director of the Women’s Interfaith Institute calls leaders to support the peace initiatives spurred by the #mysubwayad campaign. - United Methodist Women Unveils D.C. Anti-Hate Ad: VIDEO 10/22/2012 -- Watch Sabrina White of the Baltimore-Washington Conference speak up for peace and against Hate Speech. Support peace in word and deed. #mysubwayad - What is United Methodist Women Doing, in Heaven's Name? 10/22/2012 -- At their board of directors meeting, Harriett J. Olson asked, “What is going on with United Methodist Women, in heaven’s name?” In other words, how is United Methodist Women’s mission work living into the Gospel to benefit women, children and youth? - Building Peace: United Methodist Women and Democratic Republic of Congo 10/16/2012 -- United Methodist Women leaders encourage the empowerment of women as a pathway to peace - in DRC and around the world. - United Methodist Women Unveils D.C. Anti-Hate Ad 10/16/2012 -- On Monday October 15, standing shoulder to shoulder with members from Jewish, Muslim and other Protestant faith communities, representatives of United Methodist Women responded to anti-Islamic ads now appearing in metro stations in Washington, D.C. - Faith groups demand Metro donate ‘jihad’ ad profits to charity 10/15/2012 -- Speaking at an Oct. 15 news conference, Sabrina White said the initial ad cuts deeply with its language. “The word ‘savage’ has a painful history in our great nation,’’ she said. “... It is used to distance people from the human race.” - United Methodist Women Takes New York Subway Ad to Washington Metro 10/11/2012 -- Following their ads posted in the New York City subway challenging hate speech, United Methodist Women will co-sponsor more counter ads, this time in Washington, DC’s Metro stations, with 23 other faith organizations. - Responsively Yours: Break Stalemates to Peace 10/01/2012 -- Have the tragic shootings around the country this year prompted you to prayer and action or are you stunned? Like Jesus’ lament in Luke 19; for we do not know the “things that make for peace.” - Invisible Poverty 10/01/2012 -- Poverty in Albemarle County, Va., is virtually invisible, but United Methodist Women members know that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. - United Methodist Women Unveils Ad Countering Hate Speech in New York City Subway 09/26/2012 -- General Secretary of United Methodist Women Harriett J. Olson unveiled an ad countering the anti-Muslim hate speech of an ad posted in 10 New York City subway stations during an interfaith press conference Sept. 25. - United Methodist Women Hosts Public Forum on Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 09/24/2012 -- “Raging War, Waging Peace—Achieving Justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo” was co-sponsored by the General Board of Church and Society’s U.N. and International Affairs Office, Global Policy Forum, Mennonite Central Committee–U.N. Office, Presbyt... - New York Interfaith Coalition Will Gather to Denounce Hate Ads on Subways 09/24/2012 -- On Tuesday, September 25 at 9:00 am, a coalition of New York community and faith based organizations will gather on the steps of City Hall to denounce anti-Muslim hate advertisements posted on New York City subway platforms. The ads are harmfully provocat... - Lord, When Did We See You? 09/14/2012 -- This program is translated from the 2012-2013 Spanish Program Book - Vivir el corazón de Dios. It connects the themes of poverty and immigration, recognizing the Wesleyan concepts of social and personal holiness. - Responsively Yours: Learning to Choose 09/01/2012 -- We have choices about how we interpret what goes on in the world around us and how we respond. - Divide and Conquer 09/01/2012 -- Employers stoke racial rifts for economic gain. - Stumbling Over Reproductive Health 09/01/2012 -- Every woman has a right to complete health care throughout her life -- even in developing countries. - Reflections from Virginia Conference’s United Methodist Seminar 08/13/2012 -- May we all find the courage to remove our blinders and confront the injustices around us for the glory of God just as these young people have done at a United Methodist seminar in New York City. - Celebrate the Contribution of Indigenous Peoples 08/07/2012 -- On August 9, 2012 the United Nations commemorates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Please take time on this day to learn more about the current realities of Indigenous peoples. - Speaking Up for Women 07/01/2012 -- "I will never be tired of speaking up for women’s causes." Kapend Christine Musumb served as a delegate to the 2012 General Conference. She coordinates the Central Congo Conference’s United Methodist Women. - An Act of Repentance 07/01/2012 -- Delegates to General Conference 2012 used United Methodist Women resources to prepare for a service of atonement for a 1864 massacre native Americans; beyond repentance for past wrongs in the US, the service denounced modern-day genocidal policies and act... - Woman Power: Election 2012 06/12/2012 -- In the 2012 presidential election, the role of women and women’s rights will be hotly contested. Stances on the crucial issues of women’s reproductive rights will continue to be battled across party lines and take up large portions of the media’s attentio... - United Methodist Women Joins World Day Against Child Labor 06/01/2012 -- During the week of June 11, 2012, United Methodist Women will join children’s advocates around the world, lifting up concerns about the exploitation of children on the World Day Against Child Labor. - Responsively Yours: A Peek Into the Gender Gap 06/01/2012 -- Women in general operate with a sort of enlightened self-interest, not selflessly, but in ways that take seriously our own needs, the needs of our families, our businesses and our communities, the people and places we know best. - Young Asian Women Prepare to Lead 06/01/2012 -- Scranton Women's Leadership Center in Seoul and Wesley Center in Tokyo co-sponsor training for Asian women in the Philippines. - End Detention of Immigrants 05/17/2012 -- United Methodist Women stand firm against the criminalization of communities of color regardless of immigration status or citizenship. - Steps You Can Take to Welcome Immigrants 05/17/2012 -- The United Methodist Women’s Immigrant and Civil Rights Initiative has actively engaged members in study and action since 2006. The initiative draws on our biblical understandings of God’s reign, where all God’s children, created in God’s image, are value... - Journey to Becoming an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation 05/14/2012 -- Serving the needs of immigrant communities continues to be necessary but equally crucial is legislative reform to fix the badly broken immigration system. The current context demands justice for immigrants. - United Methodist Women Blog About the Rights of Indigenous People 05/11/2012 -- In an address to the United Nations Jalisa Ross stated, “My brothers and sisters, though I am speaking on behalf of the church, I am also a victim of this violent crime against humanity, called the Doctrine of Discovery." Ms. Ross is a United Methodist c... - General Conference Approves New Resolution on Peace in Afghanistan 05/02/2012 -- United Methodist Women proposed the resolution, “Seeking Peace in Afghanistan,” which passed at General Conference with amendments, and calls for The United Methodist Church to support an end to war and seek a process of peace in Afghanistan. - Q & A with Cathy Capo Stone: Remember the Children Living in Poverty 05/01/2012 -- As adults discuss and make policy for The United Methodist Church, Ms. Cathy Capo Stone, executive director at Cornerstone Family Ministries, reminds us to not forget the impact of church work on inner-city children whom she cares for every day. Cornersto... - Cordialmente Suya: Se Necesitan Recursos y Activismo 05/01/2012 -- Las Mujeres Metodistas Unidas celebraron cuando Leymah Gbowee junto con otras tres mujeres fueron galardonadas con el Premio Nobel de la Paz de 2011. - Responsively Yours: Resources and Activism Needed 05/01/2012 -- As Leymah Gbowee traveled in the United States, she came to know that there is plenty of poverty in this country. Ms. Gbowee’s observation was: “It seems to me that in Africa we have activism, but we lack resources, while in the United States, you have re... - The Global Land Grab 05/01/2012 -- Around the world impoverished peoples are fighting a foreign rush for wealth and control that threatens to strip them of land, food and water. - Wage Theft 05/01/2012 -- Billions of dollars are stolen from U.S. workers every year. - United Methodist Women Day 04/28/2012 -- Women organized for mission gathered for sisterhood and rallied for immigrants and an end to private prisons April 28, United Methodist Women Day at General Conference. - Rally Highlights Private Prison Detention 04/28/2012 -- Coinciding with a rally to end the private prison industry’s increased detention-for-profit policies, United Methodist Women members descended on General Conference to declare Saturday, April 28, 2012 “United Methodist Women Day.” - Rest for the Weary: United Methodist Women and Deaconesses Provide Room for Prayer 04/25/2012 -- A quiet space amid the bustle of General Conference is open to all the weary United Methodist delegates and guests looking for sanctuary and peace. - United Methodist Women in Ministry With Poor at General Conference 04/20/2012 -- United Methodist Women will participate in "Breaking Bread with Tampa," which is serving free lunches to the homeless during General Conference 2012. - Tampa Event Geared to Immigrant Detention 04/18/2012 -- “Profit From Pain Is Inhumane! Dignity Not Detention” will be theme of a rally during General Conference 2012. - Cutting-Edge Ministries and Commissioning of Deaconesses and Home Missioners 04/17/2012 -- These women and men follow Jesus in ministering to those in the "margins of society." You can watch the April 29th service of commissioning online. - We Belong Together in Alabama 04/10/2012 -- Ruth Ann Powers, educator and leader in United Methodist Women, was among the 17 U.S. leaders at the We Belong Together roundtable in March who denounced HB 56, Alabama’s 2011 anti-immigrant legislation. - The 2013 Federal Budget: A Presidential Proposal 04/05/2012 -- President Barack Obama's federal budget proposal requests $3.8 trillion in spending on infrastructure, education and manufacturing while raising taxes on the wealthy and cutting funding to most other domestic agencies and the Department of Defense. - Responsively Yours: Women and Children First 04/01/2012 -- Experience from economic development work around the world shows that when women are healthy and have access to employment and education, they invest in the health of the children and the community. - Ministries of Accompaniment 04/01/2012 -- Katie Dwyer traveled with families searching for loved ones along the migrant trail. Now their stories travel with her. - A Life Dedicated to Shining for Racial Justice 03/25/2012 -- This meditation is written to help United Methodist Women begin to prayerfully prepare themselves for the United Methodist Women's Assembly, May 4-7 in Anaheim, Calif., and for the ensuing education, inspiration, and mission work of the organization. - Directors Visit Southeast Dallas Cooperative Parish, Learn About Immigration Issues 03/19/2012 -- Directors heard from pastors leading the three member churches and learned about how Justice for Our Neighbors was helping immigrants retain legal rights in Dallas. - Opening Our Eyes and Hearts to the Needs and Gifts of Women, Children and Youth 03/18/2012 -- At the spring 2012 board of directors meeting, Inelda González, president of the Women’s Division, celebrated the past four years of work and service of the board of directors on behalf of United Methodist Women. - Beyond Labels 03/09/2012 -- Seeking open dialogue and community in a divided world. - “Let’s Be Friends” 03/09/2012 -- It was a simple idea: United Methodist Women reaching out to Muslim women and saying, “Let’s be friends.” - That We May All Live Together 03/08/2012 -- Three of the ten United Methodist Women supported-delegates to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations (CSW) attended the international meeting through the United Methodist Church partner, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan. - United Methodist Women Explores Needs of Rural Women 03/07/2012 -- United Methodist Women sponsored international participants who attended the first week of this year’s commission meeting, which began Feb. 27 and continues through March 9. - Ana Chã: Brazilian Landless Worker Emphasizes Health and Happiness for Rural Women 03/02/2012 -- Ana Chã spoke to more than 100 people on Tuesday as part of the panel, “Voices of Rural Women,” co-sponsored by United Methodist Women and World Vision International, a side event of the Commission on the Status of Women. - Introducing a Rural Hero 02/28/2012 -- Eli Gashi of Kosovo, United Methodist Women-sponsored delegate to the 56th Commission on the Status of Women, shared the story of Marta Prekpalaj, who worked for women's empowerment before, during and after the conflicts in Kosovo from 1998-1999. - Ubuntu Explorers Trip to Northern Ireland 02/27/2012 -- Join other United Methodist Women on an Ubuntu eXplorer Journey to Northern Ireland, September 14-23, 2012. - Can a Rainbow Come in the Clouds Without an Ark First? 02/26/2012 -- The last time I saw a bow in the clouds, colorful like a rainbow, was this past January. I was in São Paulo, Brazil, and a summer shower came over us in the streets. Then came the sun. Behind the buildings, there it was: a rainbow. - Community Leaders and Rural Women Bear Fruit at UN Meeting 02/24/2012 -- The fruits of next week’s UN gathering will be the empowerment and participation of community leaders like Ms. Robinson who brings the realities, concerns and voices of rural women to the international table. - World Day of Prayer: Creating a World of Justice and Community 02/21/2012 -- The World Day of Prayer service on March 2, 2012, will be guided by women of Malaysia who have prepared and provided the worship, titled “Let Justice Prevail.” - Ubuntu Explorers Trip to the Philippines 02/13/2012 -- Apply now to join Ubuntu Explorers to the Philippines, September 2-14, 2012. - Micah Moments 01/31/2012 -- Women lead the church and their communities toward justice by organizing for mission. - Women's Division Statement to the Fifty-sixth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women 01/24/2012 -- Statement submitted by The United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries, Women’s Division, a nongovernmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to the Fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Stat... - Reflecting on a Heroic Prophet: The Unfinished Work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 01/12/2012 -- True heroes make us better by challenging our misplaced priorities, expanding our vision of a better world, and inspiring us to pursue the vision. Martin Luther King did that for a generation and contintues to inspire long after his death. - Responsively Yours: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall" 01/03/2012 -- Let us not give walls undue power. In this new year, let us dream of peace, but let us also commit ourselves anew to work for peace, and to declare the message of the love of God for all peoples on earth. - National Seminar: Mission Reconciliation 01/03/2012 -- United Methodist Women taps U.S. civil rights history and new technology to engage the ministry of reconciliation in Birmingham, Alabama. - Crisis in the Horn of Africa 01/03/2012 -- Women confront hunger and violence in a drought-plagued region. - Responsively Yours Audio: Something There Is That Doesn't Love A Wall 01/01/2012 -- For me, these words of Robert Frost call to mind the cold stone walls separating fields and properties through the forests and hills of New England. - Women, War and Peace: Three Women Win the Nobel Prize for Peace 12/21/2011 -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa and she ushered in peace after a 14-year civil war. Leymah Gbowee founded Women, Peace and Security Network Africa, and is known for organizing a women’s peace protest that inc... - Mission Theology in Asia 12/08/2011 -- Regional Missionary Emma Cantor shared stark realities confronting Asian women, children and youth and stories of courageous women who make a difference. - Eyes to the Vista 12/07/2011 -- Every day, there are those that set out in migration in every corner of our world. They seek a vista of justice, security and sustainability. - Responsively Yours: Traditions in Chocolate and Justice 12/01/2011 -- Sweeten this holiday by sending a message to Hershey's to let the company know that you care about exploitation of workers. - Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and Other Immigrants 12/01/2011 -- The Christmas story is a lesson on God’s greatest commandments of all. - My Faith Journey 12/01/2011 -- A woman finds her voice and gifts organizing for mission. - Women Key in Making Peace 12/01/2011 -- With three women winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, no longer can women's critical role in peacemaking be denied. - Cordialmente Suya: El Chocolate y la Justicia 12/01/2011 -- Para muchas de nosotras, el chocolate, las galletas y otros dulces son golosinas básicas durante la temporada de Navidad. - Speaking Out for Compassion and Against Hate: General Conference 2012 Resolution 12/01/2011 -- So justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. G... - United Methodist Delegation to Attend Migrant Rights Convention in Geneva, Switzerland 11/17/2011 -- A General Board of Global Ministries delegation will attend the People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, November 28–December 2, 2011. - United Methodists Join Tar Sands Action for Environmental Justice 11/09/2011 -- United Methodists converged on the White House on Sunday, November 6, 2011, with over 10,000 others to press President Obama to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. - Responsively Yours: No Time for Business as Usual 11/04/2011 -- The U.S. Census Bureau announced that 1-in-6 Americans lives below the poverty line. What would happen if we sat at a table with some of these persons? Would we begin to think differently about creating a sustainable economy? - Second Chances 11/04/2011 -- For more than a century, the United Methodist Community House has been a safe place for do-overs in Grand Rapids, Mich. - Rooted in Justice 11/04/2011 -- United Methodist Women’s work for peace and justice has 140-year-old roots. - The Things That Make for Peace 11/04/2011 -- United Methodist Women Host Panel Discussion on Enabling Reconciliation of Communities and Individuals - Rural Women Panels Raise Issues on Food Security, Violence Against Women 11/01/2011 -- In observance of International Day of Rural Women and World Food Day, United Methodist Women co-organized two panel discussions highlighting issues important to rural women around the world at the Church Center for the United Nations, Oct. 14, 2011. - United Methodist Women Joins Tar Sands Action at White House 10/28/2011 -- United Methodist Women will join with other organizations November 6th in Washington, D.C., at 2 p.m. for one hour in an action against the proposed transcontinental Keystone XL tar sands pipeline projects intended to ship oil from Canada to the United St... - The Things that Make for Peace 10/25/2011 -- What are “the things that make for peace”? - Women, War & Peace 10/11/2011 -- Join United Methodist Women members around the country in watching this important series that highlights the importance of women’s voices in conflict and the necessity of ending war if we are to ever live in the world of peace God intended for us. - Women's Division Board Meeting Wrapup 10/11/2011 -- The Women’s Division board of directors approved the 2012 budget, received the criteria and application form for incoming national mission institutions that will be used to approve new partnerships, and approved a plan for a consultation with Native Ameri... - Report of the Deputy General Secretary 10/10/2011 -- On Friday October 7, Women’s Division Deputy General Secretary Harriett Jane Olson addressed the Women’s Division board of directors at their annual fall meeting. With the message “Shaping the Future,” Ms. Olson spoke of how the current work of United Met... - Directors Celebrate Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee 10/10/2011 -- Women’s Division directors had a discussion the following evening with Abigail Disney, executive producer for “Women, War & Peace,” a five-part series on PBS, and producer of “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” a documentary in which Leymah Gbowee is a central... - Responsively Yours: Acting Like Hope 10/05/2011 -- Imagine the United Methodist Church as an influential voice in the local community and the world, inviting change, restoration, healing and a deep Christian spiritual formation that sustains us in addressing injustice and brokenness in the world. - Clinica Betañia 10/05/2011 -- A beacon of hope in a city shackled by drug cartels. - Criminalization of Communities of Color 10/05/2011 -- Racial disparities in the nation's legal system continue to challenge fairness and equal justice. - Poverty Issue Study Overview 10/03/2011 -- Participants in the study will engage in deepening their understanding of the realities of poverty and be invited to commit to solidarity with the poor through accompaniment and advocacy. - Immigration and the Bible 10/03/2011 -- This study shares the story of the Bible as a narrative of immigrants and migration. - Human Trafficking: A Resource for Preventing, Protecting, Prosecuting (PDF) 09/30/2011 -- Join United Methodist Women in the global movement to end the complex web of sexual slavery, prostitution and labor bondage. - Race and Migration: Ten Years After Durban 09/28/2011 -- Over 15,000 people gathered in Durban, South Africa, 10 years ago to attend the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, known as WCAR, or “Durban.” - Give Us This Day Our Daily Will to Build Peace: A Reflection for September 21, International Day of Peace 09/21/2011 -- Mentored in peace by God can be an awesome task. I was fascinated by a rabbinic interpretation of this verse. Playing on the original Hebrew word for children, banayik, the Babylonian Talmud says, “Read not banayik (your children) but bonayik (your builde... - Reflections of My Travels With Women's Division to Japan for the Ceremony of the 66th Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima 09/21/2011 -- My 11-day trip to the other side of the world was an amazing time, from staying with my incredibly loving and hospitable host family, to having a giant sleepover at Jogakuin University with 40 of the nicest girls I’ve ever met, to attending the incredible... - Listen to Marian Solomon: United Methodist Women member and longtime peace activist. 09/21/2011 -- Marian Solomon is a United Methodist Women member from Ames, Iowa. She has been a longtime peace activist. She has served UMW as the President of her local unit and as the conference social action coordinator. - Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly 09/21/2011 -- "Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen: It is a great honor for me to be here today. I would like to talk to you about a subject that is at the heart of the United Nations -- the pursuit of peace in an imperfect worl... - International Day of Rural Women and World Food Day Event 09/20/2011 -- On October 14, 2011, United Methodist Women and partners will host panel discussions on the role of rural women in food security and ending violence against women at the Church Center for the United Nations. - United Methodist Church Follows Jesus' Lead: Immigration Task Force Moves Ministry to the Borders 09/20/2011 -- "Jesus learned new things when he went to the border," said Rev. Edgar Avitia, who led the worship in Florida for US-based missionaries of The United Methodist Church. - British Methodist Church Leaders Call for Political Progress 10 Years Since 9/11 09/08/2011 -- A decade on from the 9/11 attacks British Church leaders are calling for the Government to examine its use of military force in response to violent extremism. - Speaking Out for Compassion and Against Hate 09/02/2011 -- So justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. - Seeking Peace in Afghanistan 09/02/2011 -- For Afghans, the current war involving more than 100,000 foreign military troops is simply the latest in a long history of foreigners trying to impose by military might their own agenda in Afghanistan. - The Criminalization of Communities of Color in the United States 09/02/2011 -- There is an increase in mass incarceration in the United States that disproportionately impacts people of color due to institutionalized racism, racial profiling, and mandatory sentencing. The United Methodist Church needs to actively work to dismantle cu... - Life on the Rebound 09/01/2011 -- Emma Norton Services is housed in a brick building quietly tucked into the urban landscape of St. Paul, and the 50 women who live there are somewhere on the road to wholeness. - Speaking Out For Justice 09/01/2011 -- Resolutions on reconciliation, racial justice, climate change and peace make their way to the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla. - Responsively Yours: Lessons from 9/11 09/01/2011 -- How does what we believe to be true affect what we can actually see taking place? - Cordialmente Suya: Lo que aprendimos el 11 de septiembre 09/01/2011 -- ¿Sabía usted que el testimonio de testigos oculares es el que menos se utiliza como evidencia confiable? No sólo es porque quizás los seres humanos no estén diciendo la verdad, sino también porque “vemos lo que creemos”. - Responsively Yours: Lessons from 9/11: Korean 09/01/2011 -- ...In an intrafaith conversation in May, I learned that American Muslims see a cataclysm affecting them personally — an act for which they had no responsibility and over which they had no control, but which would shape their lives and the lives of their c... - Religion Communicators Call for Civil Discourse About 9/11 09/01/2011 -- The Religion Communicators Council urged journalists and bloggers to "pursue accuracy, respect and understanding of people of all faiths and faith communities." The statement is in a resolution adopted Aug. 7, 2011 in Philadelphia by the board of governor... - Being in Struggle to be Human in Daily Life: A Reflection on 9/11 09/01/2011 -- Someone once said that we are what we remember. Our memories of 9/11 testify to the influence of those who lost their life and those who survived the calamitous disaster on our personal and national life. - Right Relationships: Video and Study Guide 09/01/2011 -- The tragic events of September 11th traumatized the entire world. In its wake, interfaith dialogue was overshadowed by discrimination, media sensationalism, and a loss of respect for people of different faiths. The Christian community must help re-open th... - Same Difference: Video 09/01/2011 -- An edited sample of the Same Difference documentary that explores interfaith issues. - An Interfaith Dialogue Model in Atlanta, Georgia 09/01/2011 -- In the United States I discovered that Christians knew little about other faiths and considered it unnecessary to learn because Christ’s way was sufficient. As a graduate and then a college professor and a church member, I developed a deep yearning to sha... - Women In Prison 08/25/2011 -- August 26 will mark the 40th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day. We must give urgent attention to the increasing incarceration rate of women offenders. - National Seminar, From a Participant's View 08/17/2011 -- Sophia Agtarap blogged from National Seminar 2011 on reconciliation. - United Methodist Women Prepares for National Seminar on Social Justice 08/08/2011 -- Women from across the U.S. will study and act on justice issues at the seminar, “Mission: Reconciliation,” Aug. 13-17 in Birmingham, AL. Bible studies led by Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz will be livestreamed every morning at 8 a.m. EST starting Aug. 14! - In the Quest for Forgiveness and Reconciliation: A Challenge for Women in Kamina/DR Congo 07/27/2011 -- Used by permission: De Gruchy introduces the notion of reconciliation in the light of the South African experience of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body which promoted the rebirth of the South African nation. - 2011 Global Justice Volunteers Africa Program 07/25/2011 -- From July 3 to July 11, 2011, young people from across Africa gathered together in Nairobi, Kenya, to prepare for their eight-week term as Global Justice Volunteers (GJV). - Transforming America’s Education 07/19/2011 -- According to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the US has a 25 percent school dropout rate. “Where you see those kinds of numbers we are perpetuating poverty and social failure." - Responsively Yours: Children of God Wage Peace 07/08/2011 -- If we as women of the church are to find ways to “wage peace,” we will need to change our ways of thinking and seeing. - Disarming Might, Reconciling Enemies, Loving Resistance 07/08/2011 -- What lessons might we in churches learn about the task of reconciliation from these recent popular uprisings? Reconciliation takes place from the bottom up. - Malawi Women Battle Hunger 07/08/2011 -- With little money, many Malawians go hungry despite a corn surplus. - Palestine's Facebook Generation 07/08/2011 -- Youth use social media to break the siege of Gaza. - Prayers for Sudan 07/06/2011 -- Join in an ecumenical effort to raise our voices and offer our prayers for the sake of the Sudanese people, for the uniting of the strong peacemakers in Sudan and for peace among differences of region and religion. - Issumagijoujungnianermik: From the Eskimo - "not being able to think about it or remember it any more." 07/05/2011 -- Issumagijoujungnianermik is not a commonly used word. Its use imparts a special kind of forgiveness on the part of the speaker to the recipient. When this word is used, the offender is forgiven to the point in which the offended will never again bring u... - Ubuntu Day of Service Took Kit 07/05/2011 -- Plan a Day of Service! Download the toolkit (PDF, 32 pp) from MinistryWith.org - Dames in Action 06/23/2011 -- One of the most formative experiences of my faith journey was my participation in Dames in Action, my church’s teen circle of United Methodist Women. - My Understanding of Mission 06/23/2011 -- Keynote Address at Voices: A Transformative Leadership Event for United Methodist Women Language Coordinators and Presidents. - Gum Moon Women’s Residence: 100 Years of Turning Faith, Hope and Love Into Action 06/23/2011 -- A message from Hortense Tyrell, Executive Secretary for National Ministries, at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Gum Moon Women’s Residence, a United Methodist Women National Mission Institution. - Celebrating 100 Years of Service 06/23/2011 -- A message from Women’s Division Deputy General Secretary Harriett Jane Olson on the 100th anniversary of Gum Moon’s Women’s Residence. - United Methodist Women UNiTE to End Global Violence Against Women 06/22/2011 -- The UNiTE campaign was launched in 2008 by United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to influence laws and policies, mobilize the public and partner with governments and organizations to end violence against women. - It’s About Relationships 06/20/2011 -- response talks with young women about their involvement in United Methodist Women. - The Peacemakers 06/20/2011 -- JustPeace Center equips the church to engage conflict head on with love - Waging Peace with Prayer and Action 06/13/2011 -- During the summer months of Schools of Christian Mission until International Day of Peace on September 21, 2011, you are invited to participate in Prayers and Actions for Peace as an expression of reconciliation. - Monitoring News Coverage of Religion in Mainstream News Media 06/13/2011 -- We are inviting you to monitor how mainstream media cover religion. - Grace Children's Hospital Providing Health and Hope in Haiti 06/10/2011 -- How one hospital in Haiti survived and thrived since last year's earthquake destroyed other hospitals in the area. - Farming Uphill in Haiti 06/10/2011 -- For the better part of two centuries, since Haiti gained independence from France in 1804, the indescribably resilient people of rural Haiti have been forced to farm uphill, both literally and figuratively. - Lois McCullough Dauway to be Honored at the New York City Area Circles of Names Gathering 06/03/2011 -- Lois M. Dauway has a long and storied career of Christian service in the United Methodist Church and the ecumenical arena that showed the Gospel to the world. Ms. Dauway served as Interim Deputy General Secretary of the General Board of Global Ministr... - Poverty in the Midst of American Prosperity 06/02/2011 -- Impoverished Americans in cities and in the country continue to struggle to understand one another, yet the federal government makes no distinction when accessing who is impoverished. With the richest 10 percent of Americans holding two-thirds of the coun... - Haitian Methodist Women and Men Making a Difference 06/02/2011 -- Local Haitians are the unsung heroines and heroes of the earthquake recovery story. Here are portraits of a few Haitians, Methodist sisters and brothers, who in the words of LeGrace Benson, “have been rehearsing and performing this theater since that firs... - The Paradoxes of the Haitian Diaspora 06/02/2011 -- This article examines these three paradoxes, often caused by government immigration policies for Haitians who live scattered. - Environmental Justice: Just Words, or Haiti's Key to Capacity? 05/27/2011 -- The 2010 earthquake in Haiti presented humanitarian workers with one of their most complex and difficult emergencies. The response to immediate needs must be accomplished with an eye toward fair and just long-term development. Capacity building must outwe... - Reframing Recovery to Achieve Environmental Justice in Haiti 05/27/2011 -- During its 21-year occupation of Haiti, the United States concentrated nearly all economic resources and investments in the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Haiti's other population centers and rural areas received few benefits, spurring a severe decline in ... - Introduction to 'The Journey' 05/25/2011 -- Glory Dharmaraj introduces 'The Journey' web supplement. - Same Difference: A Study Guide to Facilitate Interfaith Dialogue 05/24/2011 -- Called to Be Neighbors and Witnesses: Matthew 22:37–39; Truth-telling and Listening: Mark 14:17–18; Rehumanizing the Other: Matthew 22:38–39, Matthew 6:12; Called to the Ministry of Reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:16–20, Matthew 5:9 - Restorative Justice: Moving Beyond Punishment 05/24/2011 -- This mission study from 2002 is a response to the call of The United Methodist Church to focus upon Restorative Justice ministries in light of the prison-industrial complex, and offers a vision of restoration and healing over isolation and punishment. - Anne Gallagher's Forgiveness Story 05/23/2011 -- Listen to Anne Gallagher's story of forgiveness as a nurse in the midst of the English-Irish turmoil in Belfast, Ireland. - Listen to "In Your Shoes" by Jenny Youngman 05/20/2011 -- MP3 audio companion piece to Forgiveness and Reconciliaton - the 2011 spiritual growth youth study. - The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) 05/19/2011 -- This year is the 10th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), which will be held May 16–27, 2011, at the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in New York City. - The Journey of Reconciliation 05/17/2011 -- What does the journey of reconciliation look like? - Truth-Telling and the Confrontation of the Other 05/17/2011 -- In telling the truth and confronting the other, boundaries of status are shattered, borders of exclusion are transcended, harms woven into the fabric of one anothers histories are acknowledged, crowds are fed, and those not typically seen and heard are he... - The Importance of Grieving and Facing Our Fears in Journey of Reconciliation 05/17/2011 -- Why is grieving so important? Not grieving the trauma often pushes it deep in our psyche where we medicate it with, for example, drugs or alcohol. - The Journey of Forgiveness, Rehumanizing the Other and the Choice to Forgive 05/17/2011 -- We look more closely at the importance of the other’s story, the one who has harmed, and the power of rehumanizing the other and the gift of forgiveness. - Sample Covenant of Reconciliation 05/16/2011 -- As a community of Jesus’ followers, we covenant to choose grace over pointing fingers. - Reconciled with God and our Neighbors 05/16/2011 -- We have reconciliation with Jesus Christ--we are right before God. - Truth and Reconciliation 05/16/2011 -- Nelson Mandela organized the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which would be the organization to work systemically to heal the country after Apartheid and bring about a new future for South Africa. - The United Methodist Church Seeks Forgiveness 05/16/2011 -- In 2005, the annual conferences of The United Methodist Church focused on confession and healing in the area of racism in the church. - Bible Snapshots of Forgiveness 05/16/2011 -- Broken, forgiven, reconciled. This is the recurring theme throughout the stories of the Scriptures. - Wage Peace for Mother’s Day 05/06/2011 -- President Barack Obama’s announcement on Sunday that a U.S. Navy Seal team had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan begs the question: Could this be a time for all persons of goodwill to undertake the hard work of waging peace? - Responsively Yours: The Law of Unintended Consequences 05/03/2011 -- Proceeding slowly, led by people of Haiti, is required for an organic and effective recovery to take root and grow. - Just for Girls 05/03/2011 -- Girls find a haven from abuse and a safe place to laugh at the YWCA in Petionville, Haiti. - Nation Under Rubble 05/03/2011 -- Women struggle to survive in post-quake Haiti. - Survivors of Human Trafficking: Not Without Hope 05/02/2011 -- In Armenia, in an ambience of trust and encouragement, residents re-learn the meaning of hope after seemingly endless years of sexual servithude and forced labor. - UPDATE: The Nation’s Budget: A Reflection of What We Value 04/28/2011 -- Next month the U.S. Congress votes on whether to raise the debt ceiling. Let your representative know that you want the debt ceiling raised to protect important programs. - Report of the President to the Women’s Division Board of Directors 04/28/2011 -- Inelda González, president of the Women's Division, gave her speech to the board of directors at their Semi-Annual meeting, April 10, 2011 in Stamford, Conn. - Meet Me At the Tomb: An Easter Meditation 04/24/2011 -- For Christians, while the tomb may be a place of sadness, it is also a reminder of God’s amazing love for us. - Challenge State Anti-immigration Laws 04/19/2011 -- Arizona's introduction of anti-immigrant law State Bill 1070 in April 2010 has caused a great stir. The law has come to symbolize both the anger toward new immigrants and states' frustration that Congress has not acted to fix the nation's broken immigrati... - Challenge U.S. Immigrant Detention and Deportation Policies 04/19/2011 -- The U.S. government detained nearly 400,000 people in immigration custody in some 350 facilities at an annual cost of more than $1.7 billion in 2009. The number of detention beds has grown to more than 33,000, with construction of more facilitie... - Visit Migrants in Detention in Your Community 04/19/2011 -- United Methodist Women partners with the Detention Watch Network (DWN) to resource local involvement in detention visitation. DWN has created a network of groups visiting detention centers and a manual for starting an ecumenical program. They are re... - Learn About United Methodist Church Policy on Immigration 04/19/2011 -- United Methodist Women's work for immigrant and civil rights is based on United Methodist policy as affirmed by General Conference in 2008. - Organize a Public Witness for Immigrant Rights 04/19/2011 -- United Methodist Women members have a long history of public witness for social justice. Recently, United Methodist Women members have been mobilizing to speak out publicly for immigrant rights across the country. - Create a Conference United Methodist Women Immigration Team 04/19/2011 -- United Methodist Women in the Desert Southwest Conference has created a team to work on immigrant rights. They work on the United Methodist Women Immigrant/Civil Rights Initiative, which is one of United Methodist Women's four key social justi... - Carrying Light and Love: The Beginning of Passover 04/18/2011 -- Like Jesus, owned by God and filled with a gentle encouraging spirit, we declare truth and justice to the world. - Let Us Pray 04/15/2011 -- We live in a world where things can be shaken. - Quilting a Future in Mission 04/10/2011 -- Women’s Division’s Harriett Jane Olson prepares division directors to consider proposals to restructure the women’s mission organization in an address filled with images of quilting at the division’s spring board meeting in Stamford, Conn., April 7-11. - Helping Fulfill God's Promise 04/09/2011 -- When I look at this community and the people who live here I am reminded of Ezekiel 36:8-16 when God promises the mountains that they will no longer be allowed to kill God's people. - Be Fierce and Unrelenting in Your Pursuit of Righteousness 04/08/2011 -- Ezekiel calls us not to be more fierce in our judgment of others but to be fierce and unrelenting in our pursuit of righteousness. - Take Your Blinders Off! 04/05/2011 -- It was not until God opened my eyes to observe the world around me and opened my ears to listen to those with life experiences different from my own that I began to truly understand the suffering of poor people in the United States and across the globe. - Come Out From Behind the Stained Glass Window 04/04/2011 -- Gracious God, help us, as Easter people, walk the streets of our towns and cities where we may meet justice that is "standing afar off." No more stained-glass masquerade—only a humble walk of justice with our fellow human beings. - Responsively Yours: A Ministry of Reconciliation 04/01/2011 -- The Journey, United Methodist Women’s 2011 spiritual growth study, will provide us with a setting in which we can focus on what this implies and how we might appropriate some of the tools of reconciliation. - A Parable of ‘Talents’ for Mission in Sudan 04/01/2011 -- Creative ventures across Iowa raised awareness and funds for Sudan. - A People’s Cathedral in Wisconsin 04/01/2011 -- A United Methodist reports from the struggle for worker’s rights in Madison, Wisc. - Building Peace in Africa’s Newest Nation 04/01/2011 -- In January the people of Southern Sudan voted to become an independent nation. Now begins the hard but joyful work of building a nation in peace. - Cordialmente Suya: Un Ministerio de Reconciliación 04/01/2011 -- La palabra reconciliación expresa un mensaje importante en la Biblia y en la enseñanza cristiana. La Escritura nos dice que Dios a través de Jesucristo estaba reconciliando al mundo en su nombre –es decir, su pueblo, uno por uno... toda la creación o el c... - Responsively Yours: A Ministry of Reconciliation - Korean 04/01/2011 -- The 2011 spiritual growth study will provide us with a setting to focus how we might appropriate some of the tools of reconciliation. - God's Faithful Provision in Our Journey 03/25/2011 -- Whether we are in the wilderness like the Israelites or in the Killing Fields of Cambodia during the Khmer Rogue, whether we are in the slums or plush subdivisions and mansions, God listens to our murmurings. - Women as Peacemakers, Women as Decision Makers 03/25/2011 -- A Toolkit for United Nations Security Resolution 1325 (PDF, 9pp, 90K) - A New Heart and a New Spirit 03/23/2011 -- In this time of Lent, we prepare ourselves for the deepest transformation we can go through as human being or institutions: getting a new heart and new spirit that we may have the fruits of the tree in abundance so nobody will go hungry anymore in our glo... - God's New Creation 03/22/2011 -- As God created heavens and earth very good in the beginning (Genesis 1:31), so God is renewing the heavens and earth for the people to rejoice. God will not destroy the earth to make another universe. - God in the Cloud 03/20/2011 -- A cloud seems to sit over the barrio. It is just there, a cloud of poverty, a cloud of domestic violence, a cloud of drug and alcohol abuse, a cloud of illiteracy, a cloud of hunger—blotting out any reason for hope for generations. - Speak Up/Speak Out for Justice 03/18/2011 -- Today's reading shows how we can find hope for the future by looking to our past relationship with God and others. - A Makeover in the Making 03/17/2011 -- When we live an honest Lent and allow ourselves to walk that hot dusty August road that exists in every heart, may we too be able to acknowledge the "dead ground," the "moonscapes" of our lives. May we be honest enough to find God's Easter joy of "exubera... - A Homeless Wanderer 03/15/2011 -- Many women are homeless or at risk of being homeless when they come to Emma Norton Residence in St. Paul, Minnesota. - Called Awake and Fed 03/14/2011 -- We recognize what it means to be on a long journey facing loneliness and despair. In the face of every "newcomer" is the reflection of ourselves. Each of us can be the living embodiment of God's love and provide the compassion and care that will sustain o... - Reflections on the United Methodist Seminar Program 03/14/2011 -- The Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe is the dean of the Chapel and Religious Life at Emory University. On March 7–8, Ms. Henry-Crowe led a group of students from Emory University for a seminar on education with the United Methodist Seminar Program. - Give Yourself 03/12/2011 -- During this Lenten season, may each of us examine the condition of our own hearts, humbly seek God's mercy, and shower mercy on others through the giving of ourselves to help meet their needs. - Community Gardens 03/01/2011 -- Creating or maintaining a community garden is a vital, new mission opportunity for United Methodist Women. - Welcoming the Stranger 03/01/2011 -- For more than a century, United Methodist Women-supported Tacoma Community House has helped refugees and immigrants make a home in Washington. - A Women's Storybook Project 03/01/2011 -- Formed in 2003, the the Women's Storybook Project of Texas. helps incarcerated mothers do what mothers have always done to comfort and nurture their children — read their children bedtime stories, using the warmth and cadence of their own voices to reassu... - Cordialmente Suya: El Desafío de una Reunión Saludable 03/01/2011 -- La organización de las Mujeres Metodistas Unidas se ha comprometido a identificar cuestiones importantes, por medio de la oración y la acción. Así que cuando leí el informe del año 2010 de la Administración de Recursos y Servicios de Salud de los Estados ... - Responsively Yours: A Healthy Meeting Challenge - Korean Text 03/01/2011 -- Responsively Yours in Korean - Women’s Representation in the State of the Union 02/28/2011 -- Several weeks ago the president in his second State of the Union speech presented his vision of our national well-being. Prior to the State of the Union address, the Women’s Media Center asked experts across the country to assess and grade the administrat... - The Faces of the Girls of the Commission on the Status of Women 02/19/2011 -- As I read the report of the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the commission, many faces of women and girls came to my mind. - United Methodist Women Hosts Delegation and Workshops for the 55th Commission on the Status of Women 02/16/2011 -- This year, United Methodist Women will be an active participant at the United Nation’s 55th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), February 22 to March 4 at the Church Center for the United Nations (CCUN). - Restorative Justice 02/16/2011 -- The goal of this program is to introduce the concept of restorative justice to women and expand on Biblical examples of restorative justice relevant to our world today. - Diana Eck & Kathryn Lohre: Common Ground in the Midst of Differences VIDEO 02/16/2011 -- In an interview from her time as associate director at The Pluralism Project, Harvard University, Kathryn Lohre, now Director for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Relations at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Pluralism Project Director Diana ... 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\|Harvard Law Review\| \|Abbreviated title (ISO 4)\|\|Harv. Law Rev.\| \|Publisher\|\|The Harvard Law Review Association (United States)\| According to the Journal Citation Reports, the Harvard Law Review is the most cited journal and its 2011 impact factor of 3.336 ranks it second out of 134 journals in the category "Law". It is published monthly from November through June, with the November issue dedicated to covering the previous year's term of the Supreme Court of the United States. The journal also publishes the online-only Harvard Law Review Forum, a rolling journal of scholarly responses to the main journal's content. The Harvard Law Review Association, in conjunction with the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal, publishes the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a widely followed authority for legal citation formats in the United States. The Harvard Law Review published its first issue on April 15, 1887, making it the oldest operating student-edited law review in the United States. The establishment of the journal was largely due to the support of Louis Brandeis, then a recent Harvard Law School alumnus and Boston attorney who would later go on to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. The first female editor of the journal was Priscilla Holmes (1953-1955, Volumes 67-68); the first woman to serve as the journal's president was Susan Estrich (1978), who later was active in Democratic Party politics and became the youngest woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School; its first minority president was Raj Marphatia (1987, Volume 101), who is now a partner at the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray; its first African-American president was Barack Obama (1991); its first openly gay president was Mitchell Reich (2011). The Harvard Law Review headquarters, Gannett House, is located on the Harvard Law School campus. It is a white building constructed in the Greek Revival style that was popular in New England during the mid-to-late 19th century. Before moving into Gannett House in 1925, the journal resided in the Law School's Austin Hall. Membership in the Harvard Law Review is offered to select Harvard law students based on first-year grades and performance in a writing competition held at the end of the first year. The writing competition includes two components: an edit of an unpublished article and an analysis of a recent United States Supreme Court or Court of Appeals case. The writing competition submissions are graded blindly to assure anonymity. Fourteen editors (two from each 1L section) are selected based on a combination of their first-year grades and their competition scores. Twenty editors are selected based solely on their competition scores. The remaining editors are selected on a discretionary basis. According to the law review's webpage, " Some of these discretionary slots may be used to implement the Review's affirmative action policy." The president of the Harvard Law Review is elected by the other editors. Prominent alumni of the Harvard Law Review include: United States Presidents Supreme Court Justices - Stephen Breyer, served as articles editor of volume 77 - Felix Frankfurter - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, served as editor for one year before transferring to Columbia Law School - Elena Kagan, served as supervising editor of volume 99 - John G. Roberts, Jr., served as managing editor for volume 92 - Antonin Scalia, served as notes Editor for volume 73 - Edward Sanford Other jurists - Michael Boudin, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, served as president of volume 77 - Henry Friendly, late judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, served as president - Pierre Leval, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, served as notes editor - Debra Ann Livingston, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - James L. Oakes, late judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - Learned Hand, late judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, served as an editor but later resigned. - Richard Posner, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, served as president of volume 75 Cabinet secretaries - Dean Acheson, Secretary of State - Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security and former judge on United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - William Coleman, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, Brown v. Board of Education attorney, and first African-American Supreme Court clerk - Elliot Richardson, Attorney General, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Commerce, served as president (1947) Other U.S. government officials - Paul Clement, former U.S. Solicitor General, served as Supreme Court editor - Archibald Cox, late U.S. Solicitor General - Christopher Cox, former chairman of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Viet Dinh, former Assistant Attorney General, served as Bluebook editor - Michael Froman, deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs in the Obama Administration - Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commissions - Erwin N. Griswold, a dean of the Harvard Law School and Solicitor General under presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon - Alger Hiss, former U.S. State Department Official and spy - Michael Leiter, current Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, president of volume 113 - Barry B. White, United States Ambassador to Norway Other government officials - Preeta D. Bansal, former New York State Solicitor General, served as supervising editor - Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian Ambassador to the United States - Eliot Spitzer, former New York Governor - Stephen Barnett, legal scholar at University of California, Berkeley School of Law who opposed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 - Derek Bok, former Harvard University president - Kingman Brewster, late Yale University president, served as treasurer - Charles Hamilton Houston, former Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director - Harold Koh, former Dean of Yale Law School - David Leebron, president of Rice University, served as president - William C. Powers, president of University of Texas, served as managing editor - Jamie Raskin, constitutional law professor at Washington College of Law at American University and Maryland State Senator - John Sexton, president of New York University - John H. Garvey, president of Catholic University of America Writers and journalists - Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet - Jeffrey Toobin, print and broadcast journalist Other alumni/ae - Nadine Strossen, former American Civil Liberties Union president - Andrew Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia Significant articles - Brandeis, Louis; Warren, Samuel (1890). "The Right to Privacy". Harvard Law Review 4 (5): 193–220. doi:10.2307/1321160. - Thayer, James B. (1893). "The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law". Harvard Law Review 7 (3): 129–156. doi:10.2307/1322284. - Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1897). "The Path of the Law". Harvard Law Review 10 (8): 457. doi:10.2307/1322028.[dead link] - Chafee, Zechariah (1919). "Freedom of Speech in Wartime". Harvard Law Review 32 (8): 932–973. doi:10.2307/1327107. - Fuller, Lon L. (1949). "The Case of the Speluncean Explorers". Harvard Law Review 62 (4): 616–645. doi:10.2307/1336025. - Bickel, Alexander M. (1955). "The Original Understanding and the Segregation Decision". Harvard Law Review 69 (1): 1–65. doi:10.2307/1337652. - Wechsler, Herbert (1959). "Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law". Harvard Law Review 73 (1): 1–35. doi:10.2307/1337945. - Breyer, Stephen (1970). "The Uneasy Case for Copyright: A Study of Copyright in Books, Photocopies, and Computer Programs". Harvard Law Review 84 (2): 281–351. doi:10.2307/1339714. - Calabresi, Guido; Melamed, A. Douglas (1972). "Property Rules, Liability Rules and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral". Harvard Law Review 85 (6): 1089–1128. doi:10.2307/1340059. - Brennan, William J. (1977). "State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights". Harvard Law Review 90 (3): 489–504. doi:10.2307/1340334. - Unger, Roberto M. (1983). "The Critical Legal Studies Movement". Harvard Law Review 96 (3): 561–675. doi:10.2307/1341032. - Cover, Robert (1983). "Nomos and Narrative". Harvard Law Review 97 (4): 4–68. doi:10.2307/1340787. - Powell, H. Jefferson (1985). "The Original Understanding of Original Intent". Harvard Law Review 98 (5): 885–948. doi:10.2307/1340880. - Fineman, Martha (1988). "Dominant discourse, professional language, and legal change in child custody decisionmaking". Harvard Law Review 101 (4): 727–774. doi:10.2307/1341172. - Kennedy, Randall L. (1989). "Racial Critiques of Legal Academia". Harvard Law Review 102 (8): 1745–1819. doi:10.2307/1341357. - Obama, Barack H. (1990). "Tort Law. Prenatal Injuries. Supreme Court of Illinois Refuses to Recognize Cause of Action Brought by Fetus against Its Mother for Unintentional Infliction of Prenatal Injuries". Harvard Law Review 103 (3): 823–828. doi:10.2307/1341352. - Amar, Akhil Reed (1994). "Fourth Amendment First Principles". Harvard Law Review 107 (4): 757–819. doi:10.2307/1341994. - Kagan, Elena (2001). "Presidential Administration". Harvard Law Review 114 (8): 2245–2385. doi:10.2307/1342513. See also - "Journals Ranked by Impact: Law". 2011 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2012. - Template:Lawrence M. Friedman, ''A History of American Law'', 3d Ed., Simon & Schuster, 2005, p481. - Griswold, Erwin N (1987). "The Harvard Law Review — Glimpses of Its History as Seen by an Aficionado". Harvard Law Review: Centennial Album I. Retrieved 2012-05-02. - "Women and Law Review: An Historical Overview".[dead link] - "Raj Marphatia: Biography". Ropes & Gray. Retrieved 2012-05-02. - Butterfield, Fox (February 6, 1990). "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-04. - Kantor, Jodi (January 28, 2007). "In Law School, Obama Found Political Voice". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-04. - McKay, Caroline. "Harvard Law Review Elects First Openly Gay President". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 13 April 2011. - "Harvard Law Review Membership Selection Policies". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved August 3, 2012. - Butterfield, Fox (February 6, 1990). "First Black elected to head Harvard's law review". The New York Times. - Obama, Barack. "Review President Explains Affirmative Action Policy (letter)". The Harvard Law Record. Retrieved August 3, 2012. - "Prospective Transfer Students Applying for Membership". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved August 3, 2012. - Seo, Jane (February 7, 2012). "Tochilin '06 elected president of Harvard Law Review". The Harvard Crimson. - Ben Smith & Jeffrey Ressner, Obama Kept Law Review Balanced, CBSNews.com, June 23, 2008 - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 182 (2008) - William M. Wiecek, The Birth of the Modern Constitution: The United States Supreme Court, 1941-1953 at 84 (2006) - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 187 (2008) - Elena Kagan, , Harvard Law Review 99 (1985) - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 178 (2008) - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 147 (2008) - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 182 n.141 (2008) - Michael Boudin, Judge Henry Friendly and the Mirror of Constitutional Law, New York University Law Review 82:975, 977 (2007) - United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Circuit Judges' Biographical Information - Akhil Reed Amar, Heller, HLR, and Holistic Legal Reasoning, Harvard Law Review 122:145, 184 (2008) - James Chace, Dean Acheson, in Edward S. Mihalkanin, American Statesman 2 (2004) - Jennifer O'Shea, Ten Things You Didn't Know About Michael Chertoff, U.S. News and World Report, Aug. 27, 2007 - Harvard Law School, William T. Coleman Shares Stories From His 60-Year Legal Career, Apr. 14, 2007 - Neil A. Lewis, Elliot Richardson Dies at 79; Stood Up to Nixon and Resigned in Saturday Night Massacre, New York Times, Jan. 1, 2000 - Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, Solicitor General Paul D. Clement - Ken Gormley, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation 29-30 (1999) - Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Biography: Chairman Christopher Cox - Bancroft Associates PLLC, Viet D. Dinh - "Michael Froman '91 joins White House in joint security, economic post" Harvard Law School: New and Events, 2-3-09. Retrieved 2-18-09. - Stephen Labaton, Obama to Select Genachowski to Lead F.C.C., The Caucus, N.Y. Times, Jan. 13, 2009 - "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review" by Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, 2-6-90. Retrieved 2-18-09. Spelling "Irwin." - "Your Witness, Mr. Murphy", Time Magazine, July 4, 1949 - NCTC Director Bio - News Makers, , Harvard University Gazette, February 19, 1999 - Ambassador Barry B. White - Skadden, Arps, Preeta D. Bansal - The Trilateral Commission, Allan E. Gotlieb - Daniel Gross, Eliot Spitzer: How New York's attorney general became the most powerful man on Wall Street, Slate, Oct. 21, 2004 - Grimes, William. "Stephen Barnett, a Leading Legal Scholar, Dies at 73", The New York Times, October 21, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2009. - Mark H. Odonoghae, It's Official: Derek Bok, Harvard Crimson, Jan. 11, 1971 - Eric Pace, Kingman Brewster Jr., 69, Ex-Yale President and U.S. Envoy, Dies, New York Times, Nov. 9, 1988 - Cornell Law School, Biography of Charles Hamilton Houston - Yale Law School, Faculty - Harold Hongju Koh - Terry Shepard, Meet David Lebron President-Elect of Rice University, Sallyport, Winter 2004 - Office of the President, University of Texas, Biography: William Powers Jr. - Nina J. Easton & Kevin Cullen, To Many, He Is A Quiet Conservative, Boston Globe, July 21, 2005 - John Garvey - Library of Congress, Previous Librarians of Congress - Archibald MacLeish - CNN, CNN Programs - Anchors/Reporters - Jeffrey Toobin - New York law School, Nadine Strossen - Eagle Forum
2006-01-09-13 Liver cyst © Cuillier www.thefetus.net/ Cuillier F, MD, Lemaire P, MD, Deshayes M, MD* * Department of Gynecology, Félix Guyon’ Hospital, ** Sonographer, Moufia’street, Saint-Denis, Ile de la Réunion, France The prenatal diagnosis of hepatic cysts is uncommon 1. The hepatic cyst is the second most common benign hepatic lesion, with a prevalence of 2.5 % of the general population 2. Hepatic cysts are frequently non-parasitic, simple, solitary or unilocular, fluid-filled space within the liver with a fibrous capsule and lined by cuboid epithelium. Ninety percent are unilocular, and most are in the anterior segment of the right lobe. They range in size from a few millimeters to a few centimeters. Nevertheless, only 6 cases have been described in fetuses. It is most frequent with girl 1. This is a 28-year-old woman, gravid 4, para 3, that was initially scanned at 12 weeks. A single viable fetus with a CRL of 52 mm (appropriate for this gestational age) was seen. The nuchal translucency measurement (1mm) and the morphology were normal. The couple was healthy, nonconsanguineous and had no relevant past history. Triple serum screening was performed (normal) at 16 weeks and at 24 weeks no abnormalities were seen (female fetus). At 33 weeks, another scan revealed a cyst in the right low quadrant (36 X 30 mm) distinct from the gallbladder and stomach. Color Doppler imaging showed no relationship between the cyst and the portal vein and hepatic or kidney arteries. Color Doppler ultrasound revealed no flow within the mass. A liver cyst was suspected. A digestive duplication or an ovarian cyst were other hypothesis. The other differential diagnosis included choledochal cyst, biliary atresia, and mesenteric cyst. The latter ultrasound scans demonstrated that the localized right-sided non-septate lesion, had the same size at 38 weeks (37 X 35 mm). The patient delivered at 38 weeks (girl, 2800g). At day three, echography confirmed a cyst (40 mm) bellow the liver, but independent from the gall-bladder and the biliary tract. The internal and external biliary tract were not dilated. The fetal ultrasound examination was normal except for the finding of this isolated cyst of the anterior segment of the right lobe of the liver. The patient underwent a laparotomy with excision of a large cystic mass, situated near the inferior part of the liver, without gallbladder contact and biliary tract. The interior of the cyst was translucide with a fine membrane. The post operative course was uneventful and the child recovered. Histological examination of the cyst surprisingly showed a lymphangioma. Doppler examination shows the abnormally right cyst (30 mm X 38 mm) at 34 weeks Transverse sonographic examination at the level of the stomach shows an abnormally right cyst (12 mm) in the upper fetal abdomen at 34 weeks. 3D view showing the non-septate abdominal cyst at 34 weeks Synonyms: Liver hygroma, lymphangiomatosis or lymphangio-endothelioma. Prevalence: Lymphangiomas occur in 1 per 20.000 pediatric admissions with a same sex distribution3. Once thought to be rare, simple hepatic cyst are now routinely detected in adults with CT, MRI and ultrasound5. The overall prevalence in the general population is about 2.5 %, increasing with age1. They may be found at any age and are more commonly seen in females. The right lobe of the liver is more often affected1. Congenital hepatic cysts are extremely rare, only six cases of prenatally diagnosed liver cyst have been reported in the recent literature. Recurrence risk is not known. Pathogenesis: It is believed that lymphangioma result from a developmental defect in the lymphatic pathway, which usually develop from the 6 weeks, leading to proximal dilatation of afferent channels. Others theory includes failure of the embryonic lymph sacs to re-establish communication with the venous system or aberrant budding of primordial sac. So lymphangioma is one of the developmental abnormalities of the lymphoid system which occurs at the site of the lymphatic-venous connections. Cuboid epithelial lining and location within the portal triad suggest aberrant development of intrahepatic bile ducts with no connection to the normal biliary drainage. Classification: Lymphangioma are histologically divided into three categories: Lymphangiomas can occur a variety of anatomical locations. The most common area is the neck (75 %), followed by the axillary region (20 %), retroperitoneum and abdominal viscera (2 %), limbs and bones (2 %) and cervico-mediastinum (1 %)3. Abdominal lymphangiomas occur most commonly in the mesentery of the small bowel. On those located below the diaphragm, most are found in the retroperitoneum, followed by the mesentery5.While the cause is not known, the classic pathological description has advanced the hypothesis that such cysts are produced in aberrant bile ducts. This is thought to occur either by inflammatory ductal hyperplasia or by obstruction of the duct, retention of fluid, and subsequent cyst formation. This hypothesis is supported by the cuboidal histologic appearance of the cyst lining3. Recent immunohistochemical research reveals that simple cysts display mucin histochemical characteristics similar to cysts due to polycystic disease. Differential diagnosis: Dermoid cyst, lymphatic cyst, enteric duplication, duodenal atresia, choledochal cyst, Carolïs disease, pancreatic pseudocyst, hydronephrosis, renal cyst, cystic renal dysplasia, ovarian cysts, urachal cyst, adrenal cyst, mesenteric or omental cyst, splenic cyst, cystic dilatation of intrahepatic bile ducts, bowel duplication, and cystic structures within other abdominal structures. There may be some evidence linking such cysts with tuberous sclerosis and Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, but this is uncertain 6-7. If the cyst is localized into the liver, the differential diagnosis includes essentially dermoid cyst, lymphatic cyst and choledochal cysts. We must think about cystic dilatation of biliary ducts with Caroli’s disease (but in this case, cysts are usually multiple), polycystic liver disease (usually multiple too) and enteric duplication 8-9. In our case, initially we essentially believe that it was a bowel duplication, a liver cyst or an ovary cyst. We should have made a MRI. Ultrafast MRI scans further depicted a detailed anatomical relationship of the cyst to the liver, gallbladder and biliary cyst. Lymphangiomas classically have a thin wall, often have multiple septations and can be readily distinguished from the liver, spleen, pancreas and kidney. Our case was detected at 32 weeks and scans show an enlarging cyst mass but without multiples septa, which in retrospect was unclassical of abdominal lymphangioma2. Experiences from previously published studies demonstrate the tendency of these lesions to enlarge rapidly and cause abdominal obstruction especially perinatally, but it was not the case here10. Lymphangioma are benign tumors of the lymphatic system, with the potential for expansion and infiltration into surrounding structures3. Prenatal diagnosis is not uncommon. Early diagnosis facilitates proper planning and prompt postnatal resuscitation, which improves survival. Nonetheless, lymphangioma can lead to complications at birth or shortly after birth4. In this article we described the antenatal discover of a hepatic cyst, which was in fact a lymphangioma. Implications for target examinations: Prenatal diagnosis of hepatic cyst has been rarely described in the literature. Sonographic findings can be thick wall cyst or hypoechogenic mass located or with close relation to the fetal liver. Absent flood flow is observed. In the preoperative assessment, MRI should been used to accurately demonstrate the presence extent and types of cysts. Additionally, MRI has the advantages of rapid delineation of tissue borders and easy selection of imaging planes. Nevertheless differentiation from a vascular structure is simple with Doppler. As with other relatively benign abdominal cysts, the major importance of such a finding is differentiation from cystic lesions which may require urgent prenatal or neonatal treatment, or which may affect the viability of the fetus. Associated anomalies: Tuberous sclerosis, rare, may lead to cysts within the liver and kidneys. Peutz-Jeghers syndrome and omphalocele have also been reported in association with a simple hepatci cyst. Skin edema, ascites, hydrops and polyhydramnios and placental chorioangioma can be associated6. Prognosis: When a fetal lymphangiomas is diagnosed in the fetal period, the overall diagnosis is poor with a rage mortality ranges from 50 to 100%. Because of the paucity of available data, it is uncertain whether abdominal lymphangiomas carry a significant risk for aneuploidy. Nevertheless offering karyotype is recommended to the parents of affected fetus. The prognosis is benign if the karyotype is normal and hydrops is absent. These cysts growth slowly and rare complications may be due to their enlargement, infection, or hemorrhage. Treatment: A neonatal ultrasound examination may be performed to confirm the diagnosis and to provide a baseline for future follow-up and management. After birth, the principal complication may be jaundice, due to obstruction of biliary system. Sometimes pain due to infection or hemorrhage. Generally, this occurs with very large hepatic cyst exceeding 10 cm in diameter. Infection, hemorrhage or rupture are less common, but can ocurr during delivery. Hepatomegaly is rare, but can produce IVC obstruction. Neoplastic degeneration are not common. Although there are some reports of cystic lymphangioma in other location of the body treated with intra-uterine aspirations, local sclerotherapy or injection of fibrin glue, the definitive treatment consist in complete postnatal surgical resection of the lesion depending on the size of the tumor. Percutaneous aspiration under ultrasound guidance can yield information regarding the nature of the lesion. However, aspiration of a simple cyst will generally result in reaccumulation of cyst fluid. So instillation of sclerosing agents such as ethanol or minocycline after cyst aspiration has been successful in preventing reaccumulation of fluid. Surgical intervention is required for refractory simple or large hepatic cysts. If the cyst contains bilious material, then a Roux-en-Y limb is created for drainage. More commonly, serous hepatic cyst may be treated by simply unroofing the cyst so that it drains into the peritoneal cavity. Successful laparoscopic treatment has been reported. Twelve of reported prenatally detected HC were excised in the neonatal period. So only limited experience is available concerning the surgical treatment of symptomatic cysts. During surgery, communication with extra hepatic and intrahepatic biliary system has to be ruled out by cholangiography. Total excision or enucleation seems to be the treatment of choice. If this is not possible, partial excision with marsupialization of the cyst wall is recommended. Last point, there seems to be no argument in favor of prophylactic cesarean section in case of hepatic cyst. Indeed reports on dystocia due to hepatic cyst are exceptional. The diagnosis of hepatic cyst is particularly rare, but the diagnosis of lymphangioma is more difficult. So RMI seems usefull when we suspected of hepatic cyst. Iis important to perform this diagnosis to avoid complications. 1. Jojart G, Verebely T: Primary neonatal liver cyst. Orv Hetil 1992; 133:210-12. 2. Groves A., Cameron H., Barett M.- Intra-abdominal lymphangioma : further images of prenatal diagnosis. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2003; 22 : 94-100. 3. Ho M., Lee C.C., Yin T.Y.- Prenatal diagnosis of abdominal lymphangioma. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2002 ; 20 : 205-6. 4. Chih-Ping Chen- Prenatal imaging of the fetal anterior chest wall cystic hygroma by magnetic resonance imaging. Prenat Diagn 2003 ; 23 : 5. Mostofian E., Ornvold K., Latchaw L., Harris R.D.- Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of abdomiinal mesenteric lymphnagioma. J Ultrasound Med 2004 ; 23 : 129-32. 6. Dyon JF, Sabatier E, Jouk PS, et al.: Prenatal diagnostic imaging of abdominal cysts. Report of 9 cases. Pediatrie 1990; 45:857-68. 7. Quillin SP, McAlister WH: Congenital solitary nonparasitic cyst of the liver in a newborn. Pediatr Radiol 1992; 22:543-4. 8. Baunin C, Mechinaud Puget C, Fajadet P, et al. Management of a biliary cyst disclosed prenatally. Apropos of 2 cases. Chir Pediatr 9. Seidman JD, YaleLoehr AJ, Beaver B et al.: Alimentary duplication presenting as an hepatic cyst in a neonate. Am J Surg Pathol 1991 Jul; 10. Heloury Y, Bouvier S, Nomballais MF, et al.: Hepatic cyst in a newborn infant. Pediatrie 1991; 46:593-5. 11. Merine D, Nussbaum AR, Sanders RC: Solitary nonparasitic hepatic cyst causing abdominal distention and respiratory distress in a newborn. J Pediatr Surg 1990; 25: 349-50. 12. Chu DY, Olson AL, Mishalany HG: Congenital liver cyst presenting as congenital diaphragmatic hernia. J Pediatr Surg 1986; 21: 897-9.
\|PA\|\|Signed into law 06/2012\|\|P-12\| \|An Act amending Title 24 (Education) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in private colleges, universities and seminaries, further providing for certification of institutions.\| Adds a new subsection to Title 24 concerning the certification of higher education institutions. Allows a private, nonprofit college or univ... \|OK\|\|Signed into law 05/2012\|\|P-12\| \|Debit and Charge Card Fees\| This bill amends state law to allow private educational institutions to charge a convenience fee for use of a debit or charge card. Such a f... \|CO\|\|Signed into law 05/2012\|\|Postsec.\|\|Accreditation for Private Nonprofit and For-profit Institutions\| H.B. 1155 (sections 12 to 20) Details authority, responsibility of Commission on Higher Education to authorize, revoke right of private nonprofit or for-profit institutio... \|FL\|\|Signed into law 04/2012\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Institutions' Reporting of Performance Data\| H.B. 7135 - Private Institutions' Reporting of Performance Data Requires colleges and universities eligible to participate in the William L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant Program to report stude... \|IL\|\|Adopted 04/2012\|\|Postsec.\|\|Program Review (Private Colleges and Universities)\| 23 IL ADC 1030.10, 20, 30, 60, 70, 90 Guides the reviews of private colleges' and universities' (a) applications to establish new colleges and universities in the state and (b) a... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 09/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Definition of "Private College" or "Private Participating College"\| Amends definition of a "private college" or "private participating college" for purposes of the California Educational Facilities Authority... \|NY\|\|Signed into law 08/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy Assistance for Not-for-Profit Postsecondary Institutions\| Relates to the eligibility of certain independent not-for-profit institutions of higher education to receive assistance from the New York po... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 08/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Postsecondary Education\| Provides that if the U.S. Department of Education does not have a relevant exam for an ability-to-benefit student (i.e., a student without a... \|TX\|\|Signed into law 06/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Institutions Authorized to Operate Educational Programs Beyond Secondary Education\| Clarifies that the state meets U.S. Department of Education requirements concerning federal student aid by naming private institutions of hi... \|AL\|\|To governor 05/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Oversight of For-Profit and Nonprofit Postsecondary Institutions\| Relates to the regulation of certain schools and courses of instruction and exemptions from school licensing. Clarifies the definitions of f... \|MD\|\|Signed into law 05/2011\|\|Postsec.\|\|Regulation of Public, Private Nonprofit, and For-Profit Institutions of Higher Education\| From Department of Legislative Services Fiscal and Policy Note: Distinguishes between public, private nonprofit, and for-profit institutions... \|MS\|\|Signed into law 03/2011\|\|Postsec.\| \|Accreditation Alternative for Private Business Vocational Schools\| Authorizes private business and vocational schools that have obtained national accreditation from an accrediting agency designated by the U.... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 09/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Longitudinal Data Systems and Teacher Preparation Program Data\| From bill analysis: Existing law creates the California Education Information System, consisting of the CALPADS (California Longitudinal Pup... \|IL\|\|Adopted 07/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Colleges and Universities Capital Distribution Formula\| 23 IAC 1039.10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Primarily from summary in Administrative Register: On July 13, 2009, Public Act 96-37 was signed into law, creating the Private Colleges and... \|TX\|\|Adopted 05/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Accreditation and Authorization of Colleges/Universities Other Than Public Institutions\| 19 TAC 7.3, 7.7, 7.11 Largely from Texas Register: Amends provisions relating to degree-granting colleges and universities that are not Texas public institutions... \|CO\|\|Signed into law 05/2010\|\|Postsec.\| \|College Core Course Guidelines and Credits\| Allows a nonpublic institution of higher education to choose to participate in public higher education core course guidelines; provides that... \|MN\|\|Signed into law 05/2010\|\|Postsec.\| Requires private schools to issue students a full refund of money it received for a student or if a contract with that student is unenforcea... \|SC\|\|Vetoed 04/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Univeristy Campus Police - Extention of Authority\| Relates to the jurisdiction of campus police officers at private colleges. As proposed in the legislation, the authority of campus police of... \|KY\|\|Signed into law 04/2010\|\|Postsec.\| \|Transfer/Articulation from Associate's Degree to Four-Year Programs\| Encourages postsecondary institutions to limit bachelor degree programs to 120 credit hours and associate degree programs to 60 credit hours... \|WY\|\|Signed into law 03/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Postsecondary Institutions\| Relates to private school licensing; provides an exemption from private school licensing requirements for any parochial, church or religious... \|NJ\|\|Signed into law 01/2010\|\|Postsec.\|\|Proprietary Schools\| Revises the representation of proprietary schools on New Jersey Presidents' Council and on its executive board; provides that the presidents... \|TX\|\|Adopted 11/2009\|\|Postsec.\|\|Degree-Granting Colleges and Universities\| 19 TAC 184.108.40.206 -.13 Establishes new rules concerning degree-granting colleges and universities other than Texas public institutions. As stated in the August 7, ... \|NC\|\|Signed into law 08/2009\|\|Postsec.\| \|Student Protection Fund for Proprietary School Students\| Establishes a student protection fund for proprietary school (i.e., all private schools operated for profit, with some exceptions) students ... \|IL\|\|Signed into law 07/2009\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Postsecondary Facilities\| H.B. 2424 - Article 25 Establishes the Private Colleges and Universities Capital Distribution Formula Act. Creates a distribution formula for funds appropriated fr... \|TX\|\|Signed into law 06/2009\|\|Postsec.\| \|Engineering, Applied Science and Applied Technology\| Authorizes private higher education institutions to participate in specified engineering recruitment programs, including one-week summer pro... \|TX\|\|Signed into law 05/2009\|\|Postsec.\|\|Tuition Equalization Grant Program\| Amends eligibility requirements for the Tuition Equalization Grant Program, which allows financially needy students to attend private, non-p... \|CA\|\|Vetoed 09/2008\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private postsecondary\| Recasts, revises, and reenacts the provisions of the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989 as the Private Postse... \|OK\|\|Signed into law 05/2008\|\|P-12\| \|Board of Private Vocational Schools\| Relates to the Board of Private Vocational Schools; requires budgeting in certain categories and amounts; requires certain performance measu... \|CO\|\|Signed into law 05/2008\|\|Postsec.\| \|Diplomas from Private Colleges and Universities\| Clarifies the authority related to the authorization to do business for private colleges or universities, bible colleges, and seminaries; pe... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 10/2007\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private postsecondary finance\| Provides that the provision of existing law relating to the issuance of bonds for financing of public and private higher education facilitie... \|WA\|\|Signed into law 04/2007\|\|Community College\| \|Private Vocational Schools\| It is clarified that private vocational schools must meet the minimum requirements to obtain and maintain an operating license. Private voca... \|NY\|\|Signed into law 04/2007\|\|P-12\| \|High Needs Nursing Programs at Independent Institutions and Empire Innovation Programs\| S.B. 2107, Parts E-4, E-5, E-6 Adds new section 6401-A to the education code. Authorizes the commissioner to grant state aid for high needs nursing programs to any indepen... \|VA\|\|Signed into law 03/2007\|\|Postsec.\|\|Authorizes Establishment of Employee Benefits Consortium\| Authorizes five or more private institutions of higher education to form a benefits consortium for the purpose of establishing a self-funded... \|MI\|\|Signed into law 09/2006\|\|Postsec.\| \|Religious College State Regulation Exemption\| Exempts religious colleges from state regulation of educational programs offering degrees, diplomas or certificates based on education beyon... \|MI\|\|Signed into law 09/2006\|\|Postsec.\| \|Religious or Ecclesiastical Educational Corporations\| Revises the provisions of existing law regulating educational corporations; provides for an educational corporation classification to includ... \|NE\|\|Rule Adoption 08/2006\|\|Postsec.\| \|Postsecondary Private Career Schools\| Title 92 NAC Chapters 41 and 42 Establishes procedures for authorizing private postsecondary career schools to operate, be accredited and grant degrees. \|WY\|\|Emergency Rule Adoption 06/2006\|\|Postsec.\| \|Private Postsecondary School Registration\| Amends rules regarding operation or registration of all private postsecondary degree granting education institutions that are located within... \|VA\|\|Signed into law 04/2006\|\|Postsec.\|\|Purchasing\| Allows private, nonprofit institutions of higher education chartered to purchase directly from state contracts established by the Division o... \|WY\|\|Signed into law 03/2006\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private School Licensing\| Relates to private school licensing; transfers duties from the state board to the department of education; requires registration of all accr... \|WA\|\|Signed into law 03/2006\|\|Postsec.\|\|Tax-Exempt Property Usage\| Recognizes that independent nonprofit schools, colleges, and universities are important economic drivers in their communities, and encourage... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 09/2005\|\|Postsec.\|\|Definition of Private College for Funding Purposes\| Specifies that, for purposes of obtaining financing under the California Educational Facilities Authority Act, a "private college" also incl... \|ND\|\|Signed into law 04/2005\|\|Postsec.\| \|Private Postsecondary Institution Operations\| Relates to fees provided to the state board for career and technical education for authorizations to operate private postsecondary instituti... \|CA\|\|Signed into law 09/2004\|\|P-12\| \|Special Education Students\| A.B. 1858 (multiple provisions) Prohibits a licensed children's institution and a residential care facility from requiring, as a condition of admission or residency, that a... \|IL\|\|Signed into law 06/2004\|\|Postsec.\|\|Private Business and Vocational Schools\| Amends the Private Business and Vocational Schools Act. Provides that certain educational institutions that enroll students in one or more b... \|HI\|\|Signed into law 06/2004\|\|P-12\| \|Revenue Bonds for Not-for-Profit Education Facilities\| Relates to special purpose revenue bonds for Island Pacific Academy. The legislature finds and determines that the planning and construction...
Nick: Hey there, Danilo. How are you these days? You’ve just played the Exit festival, so how was it? Also, what are your impressions of the Faith No More concert? I know you’re a huge fan of them so seeing them live in Serbia must have been pretty special. Danilo: Hey Nikola! I’m great. Really really great. I’m feeling that way beacuse of that Faith No More show! Maybe it’s too early to tell, but hell, I think it was the best gig in my whole life. I’m into Faith No More since I was 6-7 years old. I remember watching the Epic video clip and next thing I remember is listening to The Real Thing album. Angel Dust was the first bootleg tape I bought at the black market. It was 1992, it was war already over here and it was impossible to find music except bootleging it. I remember that the tape was lousy taped and the sound was really crap. Maybe I wouldn’t noticed if I didn’t tape a clip of Midlife Crisis before I went to buy it, so I went to the market to replace it. The guy was so surprised since I was a kid, a nine year old who could tell if the recording was crap or not! I got King For A Day CD for my 12th birthday from my brother and it was one of the first CD’s I ever got. It was also one of the most beautiful presents I got – being a kid and listening to some long-awaited album for the first time on the original CD, with great sound and looking at the lyrics at the same time… It’s one of those moments. After their 1998 breakup I was in doubt I’d ever had a chance of seeing them live. Last year when they announced the reunion thing, I was so happy! And the moment a friend sent me SMS that they’re booked for this year’s festival… I was over the roof. She was really sweet by telling me that way before the official festival statement was announced. I still keep that message in my phone Consecration performance was great I think. One could tell by the audience – they were really into it. That can be tough sometimes, especially on festivals with lots of different people down there and lots of other bands on the bill. But I think we nailed it. We even had some pyrotechnics at the end of Đavo Nije Urban, which was neat. Trying to get those video recordings from Exit at the moment. Nick: Consecration is pretty active, as might be noticed from your performance at the Exit festival, which is the largest festival in Serbia, for those who don’t know. What’s it like to do such gigs and where does it stand in comparison with standard – “venued” concerts? If I’m not wrong it was your second time playing the Exit festival with Consecration. Danilo: Yup, this was the second time. The first time we played was three years ago, in 2007. Back in 2007 I think Satyricon were the headliners of that day, so the audience was really funny and not-into-what-we-are-doing. This time the headliners were Cathedral, so that was so much better. I finally met Lee Dorian and he’s a great guy. He watched our show but I didn’t ask him what he thought about it… Cause the moment we were offstage we rushed to the Main Stage to catch Faith No More. After FNM’s outstanding performance we were running back to the Explosive stage to catch Cathedral. It was insane! They pulled out a great show and their bassist destroys. We like both venues and big stages actually. Playing on huge stage gives you opportunity to have the best sound there is, plus there are more lights which is nice. The monitor guy is working separately from the guy doing FOH and you can make 100% from both. At the other hand, venues are better for the audience. The stage is lower and people are very near so it’s the intimate thing. We love being near our audience too. The only thing about smaller venues is that we can get very loud sometimes and that doesn’t turn up so great in some venues! We wouldn’t like our fans’ ears to bleed every time we play indoors A lot of people told us our best show ever was on Povetarac last year. It was on a boat so it was outdoors and the sound was flying everywhere literally. The river was carrying the sound so the riffs could be heard miles and miles away! I wish I could be somewhere down the river to experience that, but it was impossible since I had to be onstage haha! The thing about smaller venues is that those are our gigs you know, people have come only for us. Plus we can play for an hour; hour and a half and we’re more relaxed that way. I guess the best of both options would be doing big stages with only our audience, which I hope will happen sometime soon Nick: Let’s focus on your latest achievement, published in 2010, named .avi. As I’m familiar with the band since (almost) its beginnings (if you recall maybe you’ll remember the interview we did in 2003), so it’s notable that the band has made such impressive achievements for all these years. What can you say about .avi, idealistically, musically, and artistically? Danilo: Thanks! Of course I remember that interview! It was so long time ago, but surely I remember it! Well, .avi is displaying everything the five of us have been into during the last three or four years. We had those songs finished in 2007-2008 already and one day I just said “We have to book a studio and record all this, otherwise I’d go insane!” It was really frustrating because we were always late; aux was finished back in 2006 and we released it in 2008 for free download cause we couldn’t look for any labels anymore. The day we published aux we already had the whole .avi finished so the frustration thing was up again. We knew we had better songs and better album in our hands but couldn’t move an inch further. That didn’t stop us though. We played live like crazy and after the show with Hesus Attor, Hrvoje (the singer) liked us so much he said he’d talk to his label’s boss to see if is he can do something to help us. And he wasn’t lying – I exchanged some emails with the label and we tried to arrange a gig in Croatia because they wanted to see us live. That’s most important for a band of course, to be great live. The thing is that we got fucked up at the border because of some stupid “laws” for musicians of Croatia and Serbia. We couldn’t cross the border, got back home and the whole frustration thing got even worse. As we entered the studio to record the damn thing nevertheless, I sent the rough mix versions to the label to see if they’d like it. They told us it’s great and from then on we started talking about it being released. It was such a relief, knowing after nine years that your work has finally been recognized as something worthy. Nick: As I’ve said in the review, .avi is an album which has history, as it was previously released as a live downloadable album, consisting of all songs that are on studio version, except of a brief interlude, Cisterna, and I have to say that it’s pretty interesting, as there are very few bands who do things like this. So, how come the live version came before the studio release? Did you have a clear vision about it since the beginnings or did it just come as a spark of inspiration? Danilo: When we decided to put aux for free download, we wanted to be the first Serbian band that’d do something like that. I got an information that some band already did it a month before, so we took the live recording we had from the gig held the month before and made it as the first Serbian band that put not one but two albums for free download! We wanted to make a fuss about it and we succeeded in doing so! It was a new thing at that time, especially for Serbia. Even in the global music scene it wasn’t spread so much, only Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails had the balls to do it. The only difference between us and them is that the whole world knows who Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor are, and nobody gives a flyin’ fuck for a band from a country that majority of people didn’t even know existed Anyway, we had those two records out and we wanted the fans have Aligator, Somna and those songs to listen to before we record them properly in studio. We already were playing songs off .avi back then so they weren’t that new to the audience. Like I said, we were late with releasing stuff for the most of the time, so it’s only now it’s finally backing to normal when we aren’t rushing anywhere. Nick: It’s evident that you guys have invested lots of blood and sweat on .avi, as my total impression about the album is that it’s a picky record, especially when it comes to production and arrangements, considering that the album has been recorded in a “one, two, three” way. Are you satisfied with the ending result? Danilo: The ending result is great! We created all those songs on rehearsals by jamming and shaping them up on concerts, so the option of recording them together in that good old “one two three” take was the only appropriate way for us. It’s more honest and natural. You let the band breathe that way, especially the rhythm section. The music got so mechanical and dry in the 21st century it’s annoying, at least the studio recordings. We wanted to get way from it. Plus I hate the clicktracks, it’s so unnatural thing to do. The drummer isn’t a machine! He’s a living being, let him play! We have those little tempo changes you know, especially in Aligator after the whammy/wah solo and if we tried to play it on the clicktrack it would be a disaster. Nick: Compared to the debut album aux, .avi has stepped forward and continued to develop and “progress”, so I might not be wrong if I described Consecration as a band in constant motion (no relation with DT). Would you dare to make any parallels between these two albums? Danilo: Well, I’d say that .avi is way much superior in many aspects – in songwriting, arrangements, production, playing… aux is a collection of different songs and .avi has that constant flow through it. The musicianship progressed more and I think one could hear that. As musicians grow older the musicianship becomes better and stronger. Matija and I were listening to King Crimson’s Power To Believe couple of months ago and were thinking “we’re gonna have to make some ugly prog music such as this in 30 years from now on when we are old and fucked up!” So who knows haha! The progression is very important for any band. I know that I liked Radiohead when I heard Kid A. Now that was a real progression, and after Kid A I started to like OK Computer more. In The Woods… is the band that was progressively insane and all of their albums are top notch. I’m so sad they didn’t do more records… I guess we’ll expand our sound more. It is important for an artist to be open-minded and therein lays the key for any progress I think. Nick: Speaking of that development or progression, could we expect that on your following releases you might add some new elements, instruments or whatever? Or you have traced your way now and it is the direction you strictly follow? Danilo: We are not strict in any way when writing music. If we should be strict, it’s only in writing good songs! New elements are always welcome of course. The initial idea of our future progression is to make the third album better than .avi the same way that .avi was better than aux. I hope we’ll make it. We shouldn’t think about it so much because it wouldn’t be so clever to make any kind of pressure before even starting it. But I think we are capable of doing it properly, since now there will be less pressure in studio and we’ll have more time rehearsing the ideas. About the additional instruments, who knows? A friend Dušan, he’s a super guy who plays the guitar in this great band Temple Of The Smoke, and he said he’s gonna buy an electric sitar! If he does it would surely be awesome thing to try. We found some Russian old keyboard really cheap, it’s a copy of Juno and has these great sounds that Plastikman and Autechre used on their old records, really warm and analogue. We’ll surely use that one on some of the songs. Nick: The only complaint I have about this record is its accessibility, which is not your fault. But it’s a shame that such a quality record is not released, at least, as standard jewel case CD. Why is that? Haven’t you had any proper offers for releasing a physical copy of the album? Danilo: We didn’t have time to do the physical version before the tour. So we thought about doing it digital only and we were giving away download codes for free with every bought tee shirt or longlseeve. We are still considering the option of doing CD’s, since we are getting enormously many requests for doing them. Nick: I like to think that the vocals on .avi are like another instrument, as they do not sound like “standard” vocals, they are pretty atmospheric and “cosmic”. Do you share my opinion? Danilo: Yes. The more cosmic it gets, the better haha! I don’t have fantastic singing abilities as some of my heroes, so I do what I can with my voice. It is important for every singer to learn his/her limits. That’s why I rely on the ambience of the song. The atmosphere is the most important thing to me and I like really grand reverbs and delays. I had ideas of those huge reverbs way before but didn’t know anyone was using them until I discovered Slowdive’s Just For A Day… And some Sigur Rós later. Some jazz records have amazing atmosphere since it’s all down to the atmosphere and the feel the musicians have. My brother played me Miles Davis’ Panthalassa, the Bill Laswell 1998 remix record and I was blown away. The intro is one of the best intros I’ve ever heard. All of them are playing the intro you know, and then there’s John’s guitar and the trumpet… Miles’ trumpet was magical. I often think about bringing that trumpet vibe to a Consecration song. Lazar is playing saxophone but we never recorded anything with it… I often think of my voice as that trumpet. It has to say a story with the tones. If it doesn’t, then it’s better to shut the fuck up Nick: What’s the secret behind the lyrics? You probably don’t like this question, but it’s always interesting to ask an artist about the meaning of their work, no? Danilo: Well, there’s lots of secrets in them, at least there could be. There are many ways you can interpret Somna for instance, as a love lyric, or as religious one perhaps. A dear friend of mine that lived through a lot of stuff during the war in Bosnia, told me he took it [the lyrics of Somna] as a dialogue with God. I liked that interpretation! I’m not saying it’s the proper one, or something I was aiming to, but I’d say it’s a good one because it means something to him; he took it personally and deeply. There are no proper or false interpretations of the lyrics really – all of them just might be correct. Aligator is about the reincarnation circles. I’m just obssessed by the damn animals and I don’t know why. Since my early childhood. It wasn’t that I got a toy or seen it in zoo – I can’t even recall the exact moment when it happened. Alligators and crocodiles are really ancient. They’ve seen a lot of stuff on Earth and they are truly divine. They are beautiful creatures and I made a connection with reincarnation circles and karmakosmik elements through them. Đavo Nije Urban on the other hand is about Belgrade. This city is fascinating and there is that nostalgic effect you have when you are away from it for long enough. I have lots of dear friends here and also lots of foreigners do I believe, so the song is dedicated to them. The titletrack .avi is dedicated to a person and her name is hidden inside the lyrics of the song. Idiot Glee has a paganish vibe and I wrote it in a sort of half-trance. I’m working as a soundman on bands’ gigs and there was some boring rock band playing with lots of lousy covers and I just disconnected at one point, trailed off and poured the whole lyric down before one could say “pour some sugar on me”. Nick: The thing that makes me especially glad is that it was announced earlier that .avi is going to be released as a vinyl, which is lovely for all record geeks, including me. Is there any news about this? When is it expected for the LP(s) to be available? Danilo: The thing is that we spent lots of money on new guitars and some gear we needed in our studio, so at this point the vinyls and their pressing depend only on the download donations on the bandcamp site. The more money we get, the chances of vinyls being done are higher. I hope too it will happen soon, but it’s not depending on us only. Please donate if you like our music, and you’ll have the vinyls soon! Nick: What elements do other members of the band bring to Consecration? How wide is your influence field? I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical when a live version became available, not because I doubted the quality of the songs, but because the change you made from Opeth/Katatonia/Anathema to Isis/Tool/Autechre made me feel like that, though that’s probably because of my personal preferences. Danilo: Well, it wasn’t like, “now we’re listening to this and we’ll sound like it”. I still listen to Anathema, Opeth and Isis as much as I did before and lots of other bands too of course. Right now I’m influenced by everything I ever listened to but that doesn’t mean we’ll do a mishmash of all music there is We’re always influenced by everything we’re into. The most of the time it might be a subconscious thing and we like everything that’s good basically. New Tortoise is good, new Health record is interesting, new Danzig is fine too. I love new Anathema, it’s a great record. Really musical and inspiring, plain wonderful. I’m so happy the guys did it. I’m so happy for Faith No More, not only for their great show in Serbia but also for them personally, you know. They are having a great time on stage playing and that means a lot. It’s a musicians thing, something mutual I guess haha. As for the other members, we all have a big role. Everyone of us. One of the main reasons why aux sounds like it does and .avi being .avi is that the lineup has changed. We just love to play with each other, you know. And you get different chemistry with different people. We feed each others off with the ideas and it’s usually someone’s idea that gets us started about creating a song. Like in jazz music… Somna was done that way and you can hear by its flow that everyone is having their own little part; and then the parts of arrangement where we are all onto it with full force. We love to let the music breathe – that’s why the classic metal bands in thrash and death metal could never fully do it for me. It’s too one-dimensional in my opinion, just to have riffs and riffs blasting all the time. For example, Sepultura’s Arise is a great record, and the first three tracks are just plain awesome but halfway through the album, I’m like “Okaaaay… Anything else?” Don’t get me wrong, I love Sepultura. Chaos AD and Roots have some outstanding, genre-widening songs. But I love the diversity the most. That’s probably why Faith No More’s King For A Day…Fool For A Lifetime is one of my favourite records ever. Nick: Some new songs have been made and you’ve already presented them to the audience. How’s the reaction been? Are you already working on the new album? Can you say at this point how would your upcoming album sound? Danilo: The reactions have been really great so far! We played like five new songs already and people really love them. I’d say Vertikala is a fave so far and the heaviness of Debeli Leptir is pretty much appreciated too. We’ve played two other ones just once yet, on the last gig with The Ocean. The working titles are Gilmour and Vangelis and even raw-ish as they are right now, they got very warm reception. Gilmour is named that way because this is the first time I picked up a Strat for a song. I usually relied only on Les Pauls before, plus the chords and the atmosphere were very Floydy in this one, with delays and Small Stone going you know, so it went from there. The lyric is about something universal, about music and musicians who are masters in their craft and the impact they have on people and other musicians as well. Vangelis is named that way because of the sound also. I was playing a theme and Nemanja was playing something really crazy on the keyboard, and Matija just stood up and yelled “Vangelis, yes!” so it stuck haha! The lyric to it might change; I just got an interesting idea today. A friend of mine became a father today and I’m thinking of dedicating a lyric to him and all other fathers of the world. It’s a really breaking point in everyone’s life, becoming a parent, and we’re all in our late twenties by now, going to turn 30 soon and we’re already getting some bits and pieces of our own midlife crisis, getting a bit grumpy and bitter about small stuff haha. The fifth track is Sheed, older track that didn’t make it on .avi. It’s really a sludgy one. We might re-arrange it a bit and put it on our third album. We also played the track called Rafinerija twice, but weren’t satisfied how it turned out on the gigs. It’s sort or Rinasek part 2 sounding but with some new electronic elements. I think the overall atmosphere of the new stuff should be dangerous and beautiful. Like before but more emphasized. Nick: How is your collaboration with Geenger Records? Do you have a signed contract with them, which is binding, or you do have free hands? Danilo: Nobody can bind us in any way haha! You can’t bind music – it has a life of its own They liked us so much they told us to do basically whatever we want! Which is great. Nowadays it’s really hard to run a label and small bands have a hard time getting noticed and labels surely know it, so Geenger doesn’t interfere with our creative side, something which we are very satisfied with and pretty much thankful for. They have very good suggestions for the band as for the marketing stuff etc. We’re emailing each other almost every day and making suggestions about reviews, news, plans for the future gigs… It’s been great so far. They even told us recently they were sorry they couldn’t do more stuff for us at the moment cause they like us so much and think we deserve more… So if any label thinks we are good enough and they are serious enough, they should feel free to contact us! We are open to everything really. Nick: I saw on Yumetal (www.yumetal.net) that you were mentioning there will be a Live DVD later this year or in 2011. Could you tell us something more about it? Danilo: The initial idea was that we should record a whole show and release it as a DVD. Then we realized it might be better to have all the gigs recorded and then take all the best songs and pieces and make a compilation out of it. If you record only one show and something goes wrong… You get it. It might be better to record the third album in studio and then to do the DVD cause there will be more songs played and it’d be more interesting for the audience too. We want to make it special so I guess there’ll be lots of clips offstage, just jerking around in the venues we play, our rehearsing place etc. I’m not sure if we could afford the highest-class production there is, so we’d have to make it at least interesting to watch! I liked the idea Oceansize had for their DVD but I think every band is so much better with the audience present at the gig. Cult Of Luna’s DVD is really good, Isis’ Clearing The Eye also. Fantomas’ one was hilarious! Nick: What happens with Amaranth? Do you have any plans to release something or it is just an “exhaust valve” for you, aside of Consecration? Danilo: To be honest, I don’t know. I had plans for an album but couldn’t do it at that time. Right now I’m having thoughts of recording songs lo fi at home or hi fi in studio. Had thoughts of getting a band, a real rhythm section you know, doing it stripped off yet acoustic, with some clean electric guitar sounds too perhaps. Yet all this is fictional still, the band didn’t rehearse once. Might work on some ideas when Tomica, the bass player, moves back to the hood this fall. He’s a very talented musician, playing bass, guitar and doing some singing too. He has some singer/songwriter stuff done and I’d like to hear it. He’s a good guy and I’d love to do something with him. Maybe the music we do will have nothing to do with Amaranth, but still I’d like to play with him. Nick: What gear/equipment you use in studio/live? Danilo: I didn’t have my own amp during aux sessions so I borrowed a Line 6 XT Pro rack while we were recording it. I tweaked it a lot and found some great options. I think it was some kind of JCM 800 used if I remember correctly. I played the whole album on Epiphone Slash Signature, my first electric guitar. We were tuned to D at that time. When Lazar joined the band, he had a 5-string bass so we thought it was more interesting to tune down lower, to B and drop A. And it stuck to this day In the meantime I was always looking for a great amp, you know, the ultimate one that had both super clean sound and an excellent drive. I tried everything – Marshalls, Mesas, Peaveys, Randalls, Voxes, Rolands… Was never 100% satisfied. Some had great gain but lousy clean and vice versa. It was so frustrating! Wanted to try an old Sunn amp but couldn’t find one at that time. Then I stumbled across Laney, the GH100L model. I fell on my ass the first second I tried it. Honest! I still don’t know what’s so special about that amp that I love so much. I guess every musician has something special that turns him on, and this amp had it all I needed. I remember I also tried a VH100 model, which has more channels and should be superior to this one, but it didn’t work for me. It was too bassy. Just like enormous amounts of bass, especially because of the low tunings I’m into and it was almost unbearable. So I picked a GH model instead. I guess a VH model is more compatible to Fender guitars, cause they have less lows, and for Gibsons GH is top notch. Eversince that day of December 2007 I rely on Laney 100%. For .avi recordings I used both Laney and some Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. The Recto has supernice gain on the crunch channel and vintage mode, with 6L6 tubes on, but I find it too difficult to play. It [the sound] doesn’t break up easily so you have to play really hard with the right hand. Just look at Petrucci’s right hand right now, it’s enormous! It’s also a way too much compressed for my taste, I like it more open and, um, sludgy, so I guess I will stick only to Laney sound for the third album. As for the other gear… I always loved effects. The first pedal I ever got was a delay! You know, usually a guitarist buys some distortion first, but no, I was so much into ambience and stuff I got a Boss RV-3 first, which had both delay and reverb and was very hard to find at the time. Later on I got the Line 6 DL4 delay. I still remember the first day I tried it, a friend lent it to me, and I toyed with it and tweaked it for six hours! It was truly a revelation for me, one of the happier days of my life at that time. Call me nuts, but that’s really how passionate I feel about creating new sounds and stuff! And you can do so much with delays and loops it’s overwhelming. The other pedals are also loved the same. I’ve got the Crybaby wah for the classic rock soloing stuff, a Boss tremolo for shimmering… I got Digitech Whammy, the XP100 model which is so rare. I got it as a present from a friend, and I still thank him to this day for such a gesture. Two months later I accidentaly bumped into John Scofield’s backstage when he was playing Belgrade and I was so thrilled when discovered he uses it live too! Those pedals are really important in creating specific sounds. Somna or Idiot Glee couldn’t sound as they do without the Whammy pedal for example. We realized the Somna theme, with the harmonics and stuff, resembles Faith No More’s Kindergarten theme. That was unintentional, of course I have a good memory for melodies and interesting sounds so I guess it all remains somewhere in the back of my head haha! Lots of people use pedals just because of the fun element, but to me they are really important for the initial creation of the song. I usually have an idea on my mind, some melody that’s already processed with all the effects, so I don’t tweak much when playing it, just dial in the effect that’s already in my head I didn’t like choruses, flangers and phasers before, but I fell in love with Small Stone Nano when tried one a friend had. I also knew nothing about fuzz pedals but just had to get me one after seeing Mogwai in Zagreb. I got Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi without even trying it! A friend of mine brought it the day before we entered the studio for recording .avi. I plugged it in studio and what can I say… It blew me balls off and made me grin the rest of the day. Couple of days later I remembered that HIM debut, Greatest Lovesongs Vol.666. I loved that album at the time it went out, and the crazy distortion sounds it got and then I realized the guitarist was using fuzz, Big Muff or something similar [maybe a Zvex]. Funny thing is that he was using Laney too and I knew nothing about it but the affection for the sound remained to this day. You know what, every pedal I got has a history of its own, so I might just do a blog on it. It’s just too long to write about them all here As for the guitars, I have Gibson Les Paul Studio Special and an Epiphone Slash Signature. They are tuned to B and drop A. The Gibson SG Special Faded that I got last year was tuned to B also but I tuned it back to E yesterday. I started to miss the old days of standard E and now that I set it back up I feel so much better haha! Plus it works better in E, the B tune was a bit too much for it. SG is a great guitar. I’ll use it for playing live with E-Play for sure, but I’d might use the E tune for some new Consecration stuff too. It might sound good! Different tunings create different feel of the song, so the intertwined tunings of B and E might sound interesting. The Fender Stratocaster I got is really something. It’s 1978 Standard. USA of course, there weren’t Mexicans back then I didn’t like Fenders before getting this one, probably because I tried all the wrong pieces. This one is ace. Two chords played and I totally get why Gilmour, Hendrix, Clapton or Knopfler loved them so much. Danny Cavanagh also got one recently, which is interesting cause he played Les Paul for years, like me I also got a Jean & Jean guitar. This Serbian guy named Jean makes it. He’s doing excellent guitars for really laughable prices and many musicians from Serbia are playing his guitars. This one is called Jean & Jean Dr. Project The Guitar Pro. It’s wine red, the body is semi-hollow and it has wonderful clean sounds. Reminds of PRS, Fender & Gibson together in one. I used it once for Consecration live but it didn’t work so well, cause it isn’t built for low tunings. I’ll tune it up to E again and might be using it for some Amaranth live… Nikola has a Fender Telecaster tuned to B. He had some Ibanez at the time we were recording .avi but he discovered the real stuff with Tele hehe. Ivan has some old bass he got, but I’m trying to convince him to get Epiphone Thunderbird cause they are awesome for the price and sound great. We’ll see… Nick: Do you dream of buying a nice new guitar someday? Danilo: Oh man, I don’t know. Six months ago I thought I finally got every guitar I ever wanted, but right now I just don’t know. It’s the neverending process, buying equipment It might be interesting to try a 12-string guitar, but having the odd tunings on it. Tuning it to sevens and nines instead of just octaves, you know. I’d love to have a Martin acoustic someday. I just tried the Gibson Dark Fire in the shop where I already bought two Gibsons before and I have to say this new one is beautifully crafted. Lots of different tunings in a second, plus it has the P90 coil I started to like eversince I started to dig the dead old blues. Plus it’s wine red, my favorite colour for a guitar. But I can’t afford it, no way. I also tried some handmade Firebird that Jean & Jean made for a friend and that piece is just awesome. The neck is so long it’s insane. I might borrow it for some recordings, who knows! As for the amps, I also discovered Hiwatt 50 Custom Head when I was playing in Paris with E-Play last month. Wow, what a clean sound! I love my Laney more than everything, but I just thought of having Hiwatt for clean sounds and Laney for distortions, it would totally destroy everything. Out of this planet! But it’s too heavy to carry two amps of that size plus boxes all the time… But might try it in studio! I also think a lot about microphones. Now that’s neverending. I finally found out what mic was Mike Patton using live. It’s a Shure KSM9 and it’s a condenser with very little feedback or no feedback at all. That’s why he can easily jump to the audiences without causing any feedbacks haha! I also heard that Peter Steele (RIP) was using it when he was playing Belgrade couple of years ago. Might try it myself to see how hard it is to use live, though it’s rather expensive. I’m also dreaming of Neumann u87 for studio recordings, but man, those mics are expensive as hell. It’s about 2k euros and that’s like six Serbian salaries! It’s a bit underwhelming knowing you’d have to work half a year for a single microphone! Life’s a bitch sometimes. Nick: What would be perfect line-up in your opinion? Made of the best vocalist/guitarist/bassist/drummer/keyboardist in history… I’m guessing you’ll mention Mike Patton or Mike Akerfeldt or David Gilmour, but let’s see. Danilo: Hmmmm… Well you got me, Mike Patton would be an obvious choice yeah! The thing is that all the guys you mentioned are ace but very strong individuals, and who knows if they could manage to do something together you know. Akerfeldt is a good choice, Danny Cavanagh too. Danny’s been my guitar hero for ages. He led me to Gilmour, not the other way round! Though I don’t think Gilmour would be a good combination with Patton, since Dave is a “chill” type of guy and Patton is so lucid. It’s interesting question but I never thought about it really. You know what, I think Mike Patton, Tom Waits and Aphex Twin would be great together! It would be rather sick but in a good way hehehe. With some Robert Fripp appearances. Trey Spruance is so talented guitarist, I think he and Akerfeldt might be interesting together. But that’s another band… Nick: What bands/artists have influenced you since you were kid and later? I guess that we have a lot in common about that, but I would mention Bajaga especially, as I’ve been listening to his music since I was 5 years old, haha. Danilo: Bajaga & Instruktori, definitely! I think I was 3 or 4 years old when I heard him and I became a fan instantly. He was so charming and the music was both rocking and beautiful. Jahači Magle is my favorite record of his, it’s so rich arrangement-wise. One of Bajaga’s strongest weapons are his ballads, the colorful lyrics and the atmosphere in those songs he relies on so much. I was just thinking the other day it’s such a shame that Serbia and Yugoslavia in general, never had such a great pop/rock record eversince S Druge Strane Jastuka came out. And it was made in 1985! S Druge Strane had a rock opener, then a bluesy-rockabilly song, reggae one, a French kind of song, jazz one and a strong ballad… Serbian bands are so one-dimensial these days it’s really a pity. I really enjoyed Black’s Wonderful Life in my early ages. It’s one of my favourite records. Colin’s voice was just amazing. Lots of people only know the titletrack single, but I like all of the songs, especially Everything Is Coming Up Roses, Sweetest Smile, Just Making Memories and Paradise. W.A.S.P. were my first metal band. It was 1989 or 1990; my brother and I were taping a metal chart on domestic TV channel cause we were too young to stay up late to watch it. So by taping the charts we watched all the songs over and over again and that’s how we got into almost all of the bands that were there! Jadranka Janković hosted the chart and she’s really a legendary journalist, like a domestic metal icon of some kind. After the second W.A.S.P. gig here in Belgrade last year I found her on Facebook and said thanks and how much he helped me becoming a metalhead, deciding to form a band myself later on etc. She replied and was really nice. That meaned a lot to me. I might thank her again for the Faith No More show, cause I know she’s been friends with the band for years. My brother was into GN’R and I was into W.A.S.P. and that’s how it started. Then we discovered Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Skid Row, Def Leppard, Sepultura… My bro soon got into faster stuff such as Suicidal Tendencies and Napalm Death and so on and 1991-1992 was great time for metal and rock. You got Faith No More, Metallica did their breakthrough with self-titled album, grunge was becoming big with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam… Alternative scene was going stronger too. In the mid-90′s I got more into underground, European doom & goth scene like Tiamat, Amorphis, My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Samael etc. Nick: So, to conclude: what happens next? Danilo: Rehearsals. New songs. New ideas. Gigs, new album, more gigs. Ideas for DVD in between. Nick: Do you have anything you would like to add/ask? I’m out of questions. Danilo: I’d like to apologize to the Prog Sphere HQ for such long answers I gave. It’s wasting internet space, not the pages in the magazine haha, but then again I know that Consecration is a small band and that my opinions perhaps weren’t of any relevant importance. This band is ten years out there and I’ve been through a lot of stuff already so I’d like to share it with other people and other musicians. I have no secrets and I’d like to help others with everything I know that might help. I know lots of bands are reading this, lots of bands that just started or the ones that have one album released, or don’t have it released, or those who would love to make one but have difficulties in doing it. I’d like to encourage bands not to stop creating music and doing what they love. Consecration might not do a lot for the global music scene after this first ten years, but we might in the next ten This interview is really something for a start and I’m so happy I have the opportunity to share my views with the world. Billy Gould is one of my heroes and and he did one interview with Jadranka Janković just before the show on the Exit festival in which he advised young bands not to give up! I was really moved by that because it means that nowadays, in these weird times for good music, our heroes still care for that. They didn’t forget the times they were at during their beginnings and that hope for better times is overwhelming. Thank you Nikola and all staff at Prog Spheres for inspirational questions and for giving me this opportunity to speak up. Prog music is one of the most underrated genres there are but with bands such as Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Cynic, Mastodon or King Crimson, the future of prog is in good hands! Nick: Thank you for the interview, Danilo. Best wishes.
Like what you saw? Create FREE Account and: - Watch all FREE content in 21 subjects(388 videos for 23 hours) - FREE advice on how to get better grades at school from an expert - Attend and watch FREE live webinar on useful topics Free Response Skills Practice University of North Dakota From over 16 years of teaching experience, he has philosophy that it takes humor, patience and understanding when teaching tough subjects. Now that you have completed the course, it?s time to fit all these pieces together. You know a ton of Calculus. You know how to integrate, you know how to do derivatives. What you might not know yet, is how to break down a really complex problem, that comes at you from that field. When you?re working on the free response section of the AP test, you?re going to find that some of the problems are pretty straight forward. It?ll say integrate this or do the rotation of this, and you?d immediately know what to do. But there?s always going to be some where you just wonder where in the world did they get this? How do I tackle this? This is just impossible. Then you panic and you freeze and you put your head down on the desk and you fail the test. Now you don?t want that to happen, and it won?t happen. What you need to do is figure out how to analyze and breakdown a problem to guide what you?re going to do when you actually work on the Math. Here are the steps for breaking down a problem. The first thing you want to do is scan it quickly. Don?t get bugged down on the details. Don?t see something like a word you recognize and immediately start doing some Math. No, read the whole thing first, it?s worth the time. Once you?ve done that, then go back and identify and it seems grade school, but circle the keywords. It?ll help you find them more quickly when you need them later. Then and only then do you decide your approach to the problem, and actually solve it. Let?s go ahead. I?m going to walk you through an example of this. So here is a little problem. We?ll go ahead and read it first. It says the function is defined for all real numbers and satisfies the following condition. I?m not circling anything yet, because seeing it twice will help you find things more quickly. The function g is given by g(x) for all real numbers, where a is a constant. Find g'(0) and g''(0). Part b; the function is given by h equals the sine of kx times the function of x for all real numbers. Find h'. We are ready to go back and circle the key things. Define for all real numbers. That?s technicality that we need in order to do the problem. Some initial conditions we?re going to need to use this at some point, we?re going to need this. We?re going to need that. The function well, we?re given a function almost certainly we?re going to need to use that. Find g'. There?s a cue as to what we have to actually do. Find g'. So it looks like we need to do a derivative. And g'' so we need to do a double derivative. But, g involves function f, and we don?t know function f. So that?s going to throw it for our loop. Let's break this down now. Now we?re in our step three. Step three is trying to decide your method. Looking at function g, you can see this thing has two parts to it. We?re supposed to find the derivative of a specific point. This is one of the problems where what you?re expected to be able to do is to use the Chain Rule, the Product Rules etcetera and substitute it in initial condition. You?ll find something very similar to this in one of our episodes. Next part, we are supposed to find h'. We?re supposed to also write an equation for a tangent line. So it looks like we have two tasks here. One of them is to do a derivative, and again this is the method where you?re doing a derivative from a chart. We?re also supposed to find the tangent line. We have an episode on tangent lines that you might want to review if you actually go and do this problem. Now that we?ve analyzed our problem, I would like you to try it. It?s your turn. Go to the bonus material. You?ll find a practice problem in there that?s very similar to the AP free response questions that you are going to see. I?m going to give you five minutes to analyze this and I?ll wait here for you. Well, here it is. I?m not going to read it out word for word for you. You?ve done that step already. I?m going to go right to circling the critical things. This graph is probably critical. I won?t circle the whole thing. Often times on the AP free response, even a problem like this where you?ll be allowed to use your calculator, they?ll often give you the graph. Good deal. Let?s see oil in a storage tank, time interval. We are going to need this. They rarely give you any data that you don?t need. Time is measured in hours. It seems like a technicality, but yeah you?re probably going to need that. When they grade these test, they look for you showing the work. They look for the proper form and often times they give you an extra point for putting in the correct units. well, oil enters the tank, that?s important. It means it?s going in. It?s increasing. Rate is a very important word, extremely important word. If you miss that word, you?re going to get mixed up about this. F(t) isn?t the amount of oil on the tank, it?s how fast it?s going in. Keep that in mind, we?re going to be using that when we?re doing the problem. Oil drains and it?s also a rate. There?s a tricky thing here. It drains, but this is positive. It?s draining at +45 gallons per hour. When we put our problem together, we?re probably going to have to deal with that, because this is given as positive, yet it?s draining. If you look at the curve, here is the curve where it?s filling, the cosine function. Here is where it?s draining, a two-part linear function. Then both graphs is positives. Let?s keep on going Of course we?re going to need this. The graphs of f and d they intersect at these two times we?re going to need that. And you might want to write those on the graph. You could have calculated these with your calculator by putting the functions into your calculator. Using the intercept function, but they?ll often give you this. It?s to save you a bit of time, because they?re not interested really in whether or not you can use your calculator. They?re interested in whether or not you know how to approach the problem. Tank hold 2,000 gallons at t equals 0. You?ll have to probably use that at some point as well. here are the three parts. We?re going to go through this step by step, because we?re ready for part 3. Part 3, we?re going to have to actually decide how we?re going to tackle this part of the problem. We should circle our key words on this as well. How many? Important little phrase, in other words quantity. We need to find the quantity, but wait a minute f(t) that wasn?t a quantity function. It doesn?t tell you how much is in the tank. It tells you how fast it?s filling the tank. So now we?ve got to decide our approach. Let?s see we have a function that tells you how fast the tank fills, but we?re supposed to find how many. How do you reverse our rate to find how many? You got it, it?s an integral. So our approach for this one is going to be to integrate a rate. Let?s go into the next part. Find the time intervals. That?s important, time intervals tell us that we?re supposed to have, they?re things like these. Now the time is between some number and other number when the amount of oil in the tank is decreasing. Decreasing; important word. Explain your answers. here is where that tricky graph comes in. This horizontal is a rate of draining. This titled line is also our rate of draining. Even though the graph does positive things on the graph, this is when the quantity is going down. In this section here, the quantity of oil going into and leaving the tank is more than the quantity that?s going into the tank. You don?t need to love Calculus for this. You are actually given these intersections. You can do the problem without any work. You just have to explain why you get the answer you did. There?s one more section. In this part here, it?s entering the tank faster than it?s leaving the tank, except for this little section right here. That?s end of this pot where the oil is leaving the tank more quickly. So our technique for here is really just to read the graph. That?s all it is. Section c, at what time and I'm going to say our answer is supposed to be some kind of number involved in the time is the amount. There?s that word 'amount' again. That?s quantity. At what point is the amount of oil in the tank at it maximum. There is another key word; maximum. Well, amount, but once again like in part A, we weren?t given functions for the amount. We were given functions for the rate. What we?re going to do with this one again is, to integrate a rate. Now this time, unlike the first part where you were just dealing with the filling rate, now you?re dealing with the filling and draining rates. This one will have to be broken up into sections. You?re going to have to take care of all these sections individually in order to solve this problem. You?ll have to integrate separately in these four time intervals. Now I?m not going to go through this problem, but if you look through the bonus materials, I did work out the entire solution including my recommendations for how you would write this out on the AP test. On the section of the test where you?re allowed to use a calculator, you don?t have to show a lot of Math. What they grade you on is getting the correct set up, as well as getting the correct answer. Well, there you have it. Don?t get overwhelmed by all this. The goal here is to build yourself a structure using the techniques that I?ve shown you on how to tackle a problem. What I recommend you do now is, follow the link to the College Board website. They have tons of free response questions on there. Just from the taking, all you have to do is go to the website, and you can download as many of them as you want. In fact I recommend you download a lot of them. Not that I want you to solve all of the problems in there, what I want you to do is to repeatedly analyze problem after problem so that you can do it just like that. That will really set you up so that when you get to the AP test, you can analyze a problem quickly. The more of them you do, the more you?ll start to see that even though these problems seem like they?re from that field, they do tend to repeat a lot of the same concepts over and over again. Well, thanks for tuning in and don?t forget Calculus is fun. Please enter your name. 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Santa would be proud of this elf Published 4:00 am, Friday, November 23, 2001 She's not your standard elf. For starters, she's 5-foot-7. She runs her workshop out of a strip mall in Milpitas. And the big, jolly guy she hangs out with? It's her father and chief operating officer, Bob. Still, Jennifer Cullenbine, 36, has all the elfin essentials. Her business card, decorated with a grinning teddy bear and neatly wrapped presents, reads 'Queen Elf.' She often wears a green dress and hat lined with white fur. And she brings toys ... and smiles ... to kids around the Bay Area who sorely need both during the holiday season. Her organization, the Family Giving Tree, is the largest of its kind in the Bay Area ... helping kids in San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. It works with social service agencies to find the wishes of needy children and then places trees strung with wish cards ... reading, say, 'Tommy, age 5, a toy truck' ... in the lobbies of corporations. Workers take a card, buy the gift and place it underneath the tree. With the help of dedicated volunteers, the organization collects the gifts and gives them to the social service agencies, who in turn deliver the fun stuff to the excited children. Sounds fairly simple ... until you see the astonishing numbers. Last year, the Family Giving Tree teamed with 150 agencies and 3,000 volunteers to place 1,100 trees in the lobbies of 800 companies, winding up with 65,000 gifts for 45,000 kids. Take that, Santa! There must be a partridge in a pear tree in there somewhere, but you -wouldn't be able to find it under the gigantic mounds of gifts stored in the organization's warehouse during the holiday rush. Various companies donate warehouse space each year; this season, the gifts will be stored in a 100,000-square-foot space in Sunnyvale. Starting on Dec. 14, social service agencies' workers will drive trucks up to the warehouse doors on a tightly regimented schedule and whisk the presents away. 'It's totally chaotic,' said Cullenbine, who lives in Milpitas with her husband, Dan Pietrasik, a programmer for IBM, and their two children, Kinsey, 6 weeks, and Connor, 21 months. 'We're all wearing radio headsets and screaming at each other.' The frenzy proves worthwhile, though, after the kids get their stuffed animals, board games, clothes and dolls. Pastor Ralph Gella, 33, of the San Francisco Rescue Mission, has worked with The Family Giving Tree for four years to give presents to children in the Tenderloin. The kids, wise to the workings of the organization, start approaching Gella as early as September with their wishes. "The first year, it was 30 kids, and every year it's grown," said Gella, who lives in the Richmond. "This year alone, I'm looking at 800 kids. (The Family Giving Tree) have been a major help for us. Without them, it wouldn't be a great Christmas season." The public can participate by visiting Wells Fargo Bank branches around the Bay Area. The company has supported The Family Giving Tree for years and will have 182 trees at various locations this year. Though Cullenbine has expanded the operation every year since its founding, she said she is a little nervous about this season's success. With the shaky economy, more families have kids who need gifts and companies have fewer employees to donate them. Of the 150 service agencies involved, 140 reported needing more help from Cullenbine's organization this year than last. And the anthrax scare has caused trepidation among companies who don't want hundreds of packages brought into their lobbies. For the first time, employees won't wrap the presents before placing them under the trees. Cullenbine hopes to figure out some way to get the gifts wrapped after they enter the warehouse, but she's not sure whether that's feasible. "I'm not worried at all about having 60,000 wrapped gifts in my warehouse, but if they're concerned on their end, I'll abide by that," she said. Though this year will be tricky, Cullenbine is already looking far beyond it. Before she retires in 30 years, she wants to see the organization spread to companies and kids around the state. "I don't want to see a child in California go without," she said. "I don't want to see a company in California not provide gifts for children. If there's a company out there having lavish Christmas parties and not supporting children, shame on them." It all started in 1990 when Cullenbine was pursuing her master's in business administration at San Jose State University, where she had received her bachelor's degree in business management earlier that year. Not surprisingly, she didn't envision becoming a Queen Elf. Instead, she thought coordinating weddings or corporate parties was in her future. One classroom assignment changed all that. Her professor, Stewart Wells, assigned teams of students to "create a program that adds value to someone else's life." Cullenbine wanted to solicit donations from corporations and give gifts to 300 kids in East Palo Alto, but her classmates deemed it too difficult to pull off. They created team-building exercises for employees at IBM instead. Cullenbine couldn't shake her idea, though, and decided to pursue it on her own time. She got the names and phone numbers for needy families from a social services organization and called the children herself. "I said, 'My name is Jennifer and I'm an elf for Santa,' " she said. " 'What do you want for Christmas?' It was the most fun couple of weeks in my life." There were language barriers, so she asked some Spanish-speaking friends to help. Some parents and grandparents who answered the phone thought it was a silly joke -- Santa's elf? Please. Cullenbine would keep calling back until she made them believe. She telephoned 100 companies and asked them to participate. All turned her down. They were too busy. Her organization wasn't established. Finally, she reached someone who would listen. Linda Haddock, then an administrative assistant for Hewlett-Packard, agreed to put a tree in the company's cafeteria. Local newspapers picked up the story and soon, 28 companies wanted to participate. That year, 4,000 children received gifts. Haddock, 44, of Hayward, now works at Hewlett-Packard's spin-off, Agilent, but still participates in the gift-giving. She said she's stunned at how far Cullenbine has come. "Just the fact that this started off as a project she was doing for school, who would have thought it would have evolved like this?" she said. "Now, you talk about The Family Giving Tree, and it's almost like a household name. Everybody knows what it is." Companies like the program because it's convenient and makes them feel connected to specific children, rather than giving generic gifts to anonymous kids. "This gives you a personal attachment to some needy person, and you can make a direct contribution to that person's happiness," said Melanie Fallis, 53, of Gilroy, who coordinates IBM's work with the organization. "It's very fulfilling. I know that my Barbie doll is going to Suzy, and Suzy is 4." Cullenbine said she thought the idea was "a winner from the beginning," but not even her biggest fans agreed. Her father, Bob Cullenbine, who retired from his job in real estate to help run his daughter's operation, was initially hesitant. "I told her she was really trying to expand it too quickly, and she was going to fail," said Bob, 63, of Palo Alto. "She ignored me totally and expanded it even more. The next year, we had the same conversation. She ignored me again, and again expanded more than she planned to. After that, I just decided I'm not ever going to tell a young person who has lofty goals and dreams that they can't do it, because some of them can. And she did." It wasn't easy going at first. Cullenbine supported herself by working part time as a secretary in the off-season. (She now runs the organization full time and pays herself and her staff of two through donations and grants. The organization's annual budget is $300,000.) For the first three years, she lived out of the organization's warehouse, bathing in a baby pool she dragged into the bathroom and cooking food on a barbecue grill. Looking back, Cullenbine said she thinks she developed her passion for community service after reaping the benefits herself as a child. The oldest of three children, she grew up in Palo Alto, but felt out of place in the affluent town. Her parents separated when she was 6, and the family had financial trouble. She was the first kid in Palo Alto to be registered in the school district's free lunch program, which she said was very embarrassing. But she vividly remembers the Christmas when the Palo Alto Jaycees, a community service club for young professionals, took her younger brother shopping for Christmas presents for the whole family. He picked out a purple watch for her with a face the size of an orange. She loved it. As a second-grader, she visited the senior center next door to her elementary school three afternoons each week -- and continued doing it for seven years. She also helped at a day-care center for children from low-income families, volunteered for the American Lung Association and participated in numerous walkathons. But nothing has given her as much satisfaction as running The Family Giving Tree. It's so hectic during the holiday season, she and her family don't have time to celebrate themselves. But that's just fine with her. "I wake up on Christmas morning thinking, 'We did it! We did it!' " she said. "There are 45,000 children out there opening presents, and they're happy. It's totally worth it."
Apple quits green standard, federal agencies won't buy its products 0. phoneArena 09 Jul 2012, 02:52 posted on After five years of complying with one of the leading green standards in the tech industry, Apple has now decided to no longer register its products to match the environmental standard… This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here 1. daniel_bargs (Posts: 325; Member since: 27 Nov 2010) Apple has never been green! They are always the mainstream grays and blacks that hurts my eye because i see the damn mirror of myself 2. TerryCrowley (Posts: 192; Member since: 31 Jul 2011) Apple has only ever been green because it's the color of cash. 3. wendygarett (unregistered) federal agencies are smart :) 5. RORYREVOLUTION (Posts: 3045; Member since: 12 Jan 2010) "This obviously comes from Apple striving to bring thinner and better-looking devices, that customers have voted for over and over again in the last couple of years." Lol is it just me or does this article seemingly try to defend and justify Apples decision to stop going GREEN. Also I'm pretty sure its customers have been voting for a bigger screen and LTE. 9. Slammer (Posts: 1283; Member since: 03 Jun 2010) Exactly what came to my mind! I'm not so sure going green has to sacrifice the two wishes mentioned that this article claims. More directly, If Apple is as innovative as everyone proclaims, shouldn't it be able to innovate around this road block? There always seems to be something to justify. 6. Sniggly (Posts: 7227; Member since: 05 Dec 2009) Way to go, Apple! That was one hell of a step backward! The nonrepairability of the parts is getting a LOT of backlash from tech lovers everywhere. 8. RORYREVOLUTION (Posts: 3045; Member since: 12 Jan 2010) Can't wait until the Sheep try to defend this move. Would love to see if they have the nerve to say going GREEN is pointless and a waste of time. Who cares about our future and protecting our planet as long as we get a cool looking apple product!!!!! 14. CRICKETownz (Posts: 980; Member since: 24 Oct 2009) well let me be the first - who gives a flying fck? nobody cares about going green in the bigger scheme of things & neither do you. its just your way of instigating a worthless "i despise Apple" argument. if Google made this very same decision lets not pretend like you wouldn't still support Android anymore b/c they chose not to go "green". people have bills to pay & food to put on the table...who cares about going green. don't point fingers when you know damn well if the roles were reversed you would act in the same manner. fandroid is unfortunately becoming synonymous w/hypocrite. 18. Tmachaveli (Posts: 425; Member since: 01 Apr 2011) What does that have to do with it? apple is a very arrogant company they basically told eveyone Fuck going green we want money so when your sh#t breaks that you paid thousands of dollars for breaks just go by another one it's okay. And you know what's sad is that most sheep will follow .most ppl in this day and age can't go and spend 1500 on a mac pro. It seems to me your just trying to stick up for a company who just doesn't give a Fu#k Thats the reason why most ppl hate apple because of the way the run there business 20. bayusuputra (Posts: 957; Member since: 12 Feb 2012) I do give a thousand fk.. I love to fk around, and certainly be glad to try flying fk.. As a matter of fact, more and more android OEM is going green.. and isn't hypocrite is more synonymous with apple? Suing others of copying when they themselves copy from others? 33. CRICKETownz (Posts: 980; Member since: 24 Oct 2009) I'm happy for Android being green, no really... But what if they decided to stop going green, would you get fired up about it? Would you not support them? 36. thinking (Posts: 130; Member since: 19 Jan 2012) It would depend on the choices available. If there are green choices doing the same things, I will oppose Google not going green. But that is not the point. Apple is the thief that tries to rant about "stealing". Google is not. So, it makes a nice case of people trying to call out apple's bluff and not google's. 13. frydaexiii (Posts: 1268; Member since: 01 Dec 2011) If you're a tech lover, the last thing you should be getting is an Apple product lol. You wanna play around with it? Go to the Apple store, I'm sure you can cover all it's functions in about half an hour. 7. SGSatlantis (Posts: 205; Member since: 20 Jul 2011) Since when is a 2,199$ laptop disposable electronic!?. To Justin Timberlake maybe. 12. ibap (Posts: 717; Member since: 09 Sep 2009) Why would it be disposable? Apple products never break! Or become obsolete! And I have a bridge to sell you... 10. jroc74 (Posts: 5240; Member since: 30 Dec 2010) Hmmm....not caring about federal agencies getting your products? That doesnt sound right. Apple cant be THAT arrogant, can they? 11. ibap (Posts: 717; Member since: 09 Sep 2009) Did you ever price replacing a battery in an iPod? Were they ever "repairable"? 15. remixfa (Posts: 14252; Member since: 19 Dec 2008) this move has nothing to do with "thinner" and everything to do with widening the profit margin by forcing people to get new laptops sooner. The amount of space saved by gluing the battery to the device vs a tiny latch that secures it is mm's worth of space at best. This just artificially drives up repair costs and forces people to upgrade more often. Which is TYPICAL Apple behavior. Now.. where's our local troll that likes to tout how he thinks government and big businesses like apple (which they do, but not nearly the numbers he likes to think). Since many companies and nearly all factions of government go by this exact green standard to buy things, Apple forced themselves out of that arena. 22. TheRetroReplay (Posts: 248; Member since: 20 Mar 2012) That's exactly what I was thinking, Apple has always been about selling, not repairing. I've seen employees at their "Genius" Bar tell customers to get the new version even when the customer was protected under Apple Care because they don't either want to repair the device or they can't because of the way they build their products 16. Fuego84 (Posts: 305; Member since: 13 May 2012) Yup huge step backward on technological advances. I mean disposable electronics just sounds so wrong. Anything disposable shouldn't cost more than $10 bucks. Apple just wants to sell more. 17. good2great (Posts: 1042; Member since: 22 Feb 2012) you guys always ask for apple trolls to defend apple articles...lol they never show up... you know why? because the articles are already filled with android users with strong opinions. theres no room for discussion because the red thumbs will start flying...lol smh DroidArena lol 21. bayusuputra (Posts: 957; Member since: 12 Feb 2012) "filled with android users with strong opinions" well.. if they have better, stronger opinions, why are they not telling them? Or maybe they don't even have a case to argue since their beloved company turns out to be a liar and a hypocrite? 27. gallitoking (Posts: 4698; Member since: 17 May 2011) there is always 2 side to every story . but fandroids always want to listen to the one bashing Apple.. 26. gallitoking (Posts: 4698; Member since: 17 May 2011) thats why i have nothing to say.. they wont listen.. 34. remixfa (Posts: 14252; Member since: 19 Dec 2008) or maybe apple just needs more intelligent trolls. Where's Jeff at? If there was something intelligent to add from the Apple side.. he would be the guy to bring it. 35. gallitoking (Posts: 4698; Member since: 17 May 2011) he got tired of al the nonsense the fandroids say.. nothing new.. same excuses.. I am getting tired too.. 38. jroc74 (Posts: 5240; Member since: 30 Dec 2010) iFans say the same thing too.....so whats your point? ALL fanboyism is a disease.... 19. Tmachaveli (Posts: 425; Member since: 01 Apr 2011) Okay then say something then if your going to make that statement 23. simplyj (Posts: 404; Member since: 23 Dec 2009) Yeah Apple way to go! Being green should be the number one thing that matters when it comes to devices. 24. tluv00 (Posts: 134; Member since: 18 Oct 2007) Screw the government. As a consumer I would wonder why it is that Apple is making it so much more difficult for consumers to have their products repaired or to replace a battery themselves? I like having a PC because I can upgrade it myself. I like Android because I can root, customize or repair something brokwn myself. I like my iPad because of the games and it was free. I would never buy one even though I enjoy games on it. 28. mas11 (Posts: 1033; Member since: 30 Mar 2012) And yet most of the super liberal college students will still buy them even though they are all for saving the environment. (No offence to Democrats) 29. EclipseGSX (Posts: 1682; Member since: 18 Oct 2011) Seriously don't all the hipsters care about the environment and st 30. joey_sfb (Posts: 3814; Member since: 29 Mar 2012) I have already given up on Apple being a cool tech company. 1) Mean to their employment except for the few top guys running the company. Only makes incremental update to their products and charge an arm and an leg for it. 2) Copy good designs from their competitors and at the same time attack them using patent law suits. 3) Repent the above making Trillion of Dollars while giving little to nothing back... 37. JessJess (unregistered) It's getting increasingly harder to defend them as time goes on.
"Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorders -- Are Children Being Overmedicated" Statement of Jim McNulty On Behalf of NAMI - The National Alliance on Mentally Illness Submitted to the Committee on Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives September 27, 2002 Chairman Burton, Representative Waxman and members of the Committee, I am Jim McNulty, President of NAMI-The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. On behalf of NAMI, I submit these comments for the record. NAMI is deeply concerned that the Committee held the hearing to largely recycle bad science and trivialize the need for early identification and treatment of mental illnesses in children and adolescents. In doing so, the Committee missed a wonderful opportunity to examine childhood mental disorders and emerging scientific consensus about how best to respond to the needs of children who suffer from these illnesses. Public policy involving treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other brain disorders must be founded on science, not science-fiction or religious ideology. Public policy on health issues must be shaped by scientific evidence. The best available research and the most knowledgeable experts should guide congressional oversight and legislative action on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children. Who is NAMI? NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, is the leading family member and consumer grassroots membership organization in the nation dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with severe mental illnesses and their family members. NAMI was founded in Madison, Wisconsin in 1979 and currently has over 220,000 members, 50 state organizations and over 1,200 local affiliates. Through these chapters and affiliates in all 50 states, NAMI supports education, outreach, advocacy and research on behalf of persons with serious brain disorders such as schizophrenia, manic depressive illness, major depression, severe anxiety disorders and major mental illnesses affecting children, including ADHD. NAMI families know all too well the barriers that exist in accessing quality treatment for their children struggling with mental illnesses, however, these families can also speak of how their lives, and the lives of their children, have been dramatically improved by effective treatment. The Legacy of Failure in this Country to Treat Childhood Mental Illnesses Before addressing the content of the hearing, it is critically important to frame NAMI's testimony in the context of the legacy of failure in this country to treat childhood mental illnesses. Also, it is appropriate to address the treatment of ADHD in the broader context of childhood mental illnesses because research shows that 69% of children with ADHD have one or more co-occurring disorders. (NIMH, Multi-modal Treatment Study of Children - MTA, 1999) Contrary to the suggestion at the hearing that we are overdiagnosing and overtreating children with ADHD in this country, well-documented studies and reports make clear that we have repeatedly failed to provide gravely needed treatment and services to children with ADHD and co-occurring mental illnesses. This country is experiencing a health care crisis as a result of our failure to identify and treat children in need of mental health services. In 2000, the Surgeon General convened a conference of experts and issued a report on children's mental health. The report identified that 1 in 10 children and adolescents in this country suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause impairment. Yet, in any given year, only 1 in 5 children receive mental health services. The unmet need for treatment and services for children remains as high today as it was 20 years ago. The World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease Study indicates that by the year 2020, childhood neuropsychiatric disorders will rise proportionally by over 50% to become one of the five most common causes of morbidity, mortality, and disability among children. Our nation lacks a unified infrastructure to address the needs of children and adolescents with mental illnesses and their families. Consequently, families often have nowhere to turn in their hour of greatest need. NAMI is frequently contacted by families across the country who often have nowhere to turn for mental health services for their child when they have exhausted their private insurance benefits for mental health coverage (most insurers place discriminatory caps on mental health benefits). Most of these families do not qualify for Medicaid benefits. These families are often told by state agencies and others that they can access critically needed treatment by relinquishing custody of their child to the state. NAMI's 1999 report - Families on the Brink, The Impact of Ignoring Children with Serious Mental Illness - documented the prevalence of the custody relinquishment problem. In Families on the Brink , 23% of respondents to NAMI's national survey of parents and caregivers, reported being told that they would have to relinquish custody of their child to access services. 20% of the respondents reported they ultimately relinquished custody of their child to the state. This is a well-documented problem that is receiving increasing media attention. Understandably, families are shocked to learn that their family must be torn apart and they must give up custody to access mental health treatment for their child. Some families also report being told that to access treatment or services for their child, they should either call the police and have their child arrested or leave the child at a hospital or treatment center. An arrest means that the child may receive services through the juvenile justice system and parental abandonment means that the child will be referred to the child welfare system and will most likely receive some treatment. On the education front, Congress promised to fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at 40%, however has never lived up to that promise. Most schools fail to provide school personnel with basic training and education to understand the early warning signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, despite the high prevalence rates of the disorders. Without an adequate investment in education for students with disabilities, especially those with mental illnesses, and appropriate training for school personnel, we will continue to see unacceptably poor outcomes for these students. So rather than hold a hearing on the issue of overtreating and overmedicating children with ADHD - for which there is little scientific evidence -- this Committee should focus future efforts on the more immediate crisis of unidentified and untreated mental illnesses in children and adolescents. The Tragic Consequences of Untreated Mental Illnesses in Children and Adolescents Everyday, thousands of families struggle to get treatment and support services for their children with mental illnesses. Unfortunately, many of these children cannot access the treatment and services they need. As a society, we frequently abandon these children and their families who are trying to help them. The tragic consequences of the failure to provide treatment for many children with ADHD and co-occurring disorders are staggering. What happens to children and adolescents with mental illnesses who fail to get treatment? They end up in the criminal justice system where it is estimated that 60-75% of the youth in our country's juvenile justice facilities suffers from a diagnosable mental illness. (Coalition for Juvenile Justice) The consequences can also be deadly. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents. (CDC, 1999) The evidence is strong that as many as 90% of children and adolescents who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. (Surgeon General, 1999). For children, the failure to diagnose and treat a mental illness early often results in the loss of critical developmental years. Many children fail in school, are unable to develop friendships and become isolated from their peers. Their inability to participate in school results in their failure to earn a diploma and ultimately in the chance to lead an independent and productive life. Families often face unthinkable stress and financial ruin when a child requires intensive treatment and there is no coverage or programs available to serve the child. Several families testified before Congress about the financial devastation in support of the Family Opportunity Act. Families are also torn apart when they are forced to relinquish custody to secure critically needed treatment and services. This has a dramatic adverse effect on the child being given up and the siblings who often fail to understand why this happens. Research increasingly is showing that the failure to intervene and provide early treatment for many mental illnesses accelerates the course of the illnesses and may result in increased damage to the functioning of the brain. Without proper attention and a real commitment for change at the national, state and local levels -- the tragedies that result from unidentified and untreated mental illnesses in children and adolescents will not improve. Broad Scientific Agreement Exists on the Most Effective Treatment for ADHD The knowledge and tools to help these children recover and thrive are available right now. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most extensively studied childhood mental disorders. There is broad scientific agreement that ADHD is a brain disorder, based on decades of NIMH-sponsored research. In 1999, the U.S. Surgeon General's seminal Report on Mental Health contained an entire chapter on childhood mental disorders, including ADHD. ADHD is a relatively well defined disorder in which a child shows cognitive deficits (particularly difficulties attending to an activity long enough to function successfully) and hyperactive behavior. When appropriately trained professionals perform careful evaluations the disorder can be diagnosed with good reliability. Unfortunately, far too many children never receive this kind of careful evaluation. A lack of insurance coverage and discriminatory caps on mental health coverage, restrictions under managed care, a profound shortage of trained professionals (currently there are approximately 6,300 child and adolescent psychiatrists in this country with a level of need at 32,000), poor training of professionals who work with children -- including school personnel and primary care practitioners - and many other factors result in a failure to identify and intervene with treatment for children with ADHD and co-occurring disorders. NIMH Multi-modal Treatment Study of ADHD The Surgeon General's report documented broad scientific consensus that multi-modal treatment - medication used together with multiple psychosocial interventions in multiple settings - is the most effective intervention for ADHD. Additionally, both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, emphasize the importance of multi-modal treatment, including parent training in diagnosis, treatment and behavior management techniques, educational supports, individual and family counseling and, when necessary, medication. In other words, medications for ADHD are not an "either-or" proposition, but rather an essential component of a good treatment plan. The most recent and most definitive study of the treatment of ADHD is the NIMH Multi-modal Treatment Study of ADHD. This study compared 14-month outcomes of 579 children randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions - medication management alone, behavioral treatment alone, a combination of medication and behavioral treatments, and standard treatment in the community. The study demonstrated once again that medication has a substantial positive impact on symptoms and behavior at home and at school. Moreover, the study demonstrated that behavioral strategies have a useful role in effective treatment. These results are completely consistent with the evidence from decades of study. Surgeon General's Report Addresses Overdiagnosis and Overmedication The Surgeon General included a separate section in the seminal report on mental health to probe the issue of whether there is an overdiagnosis of ADHD or overmedication for the illness in children. Contrary to some of the testimony provided in this hearing, recent reports have found little evidence of either the overdiagnosis of ADHD or the overprescription of stimulant medications. In fact, overall just the opposite is true. Fewer children (2 to 3% of school-aged children) are being treated for ADHD then suffer from it. This suggests that there are many children who could be helped but are not being properly identified, diagnosed or treated. The available evidence from numerous studies -- examining the issue of whether ADHD is overdiagnosed and whether children are overmedicated - suggests that ADHD is not overdiagnosed across the country, since as many as half of all children with ADHD are not being diagnosed and treated in any given year. (see Report on Emotional & Behavioral Disorders in Youth, Columbia University, Fall 2002 - summarizing the research and studies) NAMI recognizes that overdiagnosis and overmedication likely occurs in certain regions. What is critically needed to address those cases is better education and training for providers and families. There must also be a commitment to address the profound shortage of qualified mental health providers in this country to treat children and adolescents. IDEA and ADHD Research shows that only 40% of children with well-defined ADHD are receiving special education services provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In order for children to be successful they must have access to a comprehensive range of evidence-based services, especially those that combine intensive school-based services with access to high-quality mental health treatment, including behavioral therapy, parent training and appropriate medication. (MTA Cooperative Group) Students with access to the proper services and supports achieve greater outcomes in not only daily schoolwork and testing, but also with peer relations and social development. There are some good examples of evidence based practices in our communities and schools, however, these practices often fail to be widely disseminated and implemented. Preschool Children and Psychotropic Medications Mr. Chairman, witnesses at the hearing testified about their concerns related to medicating preschool children. NAMI shares these concerns and believes that any decision to treat preschool children with psychotropic medication requires strong justification and documentation of the failure of other treatment alternatives. Relatively little to no scientific research exists to guide the use of psychiatric medications in pre-school children. It therefore is especially important that children at this age receive a thorough evaluation by well-trained child specialists and that other therapies always be considered. Particularly for very young children, intensive therapy should be provided before considering the use of medication. NAMI has supported the Surgeon General's recommendations to push for more prevention and early intervention services which are fundamental to lowering future health care costs and promoting the opportunity for children with mental illnesses to achieve independence and economic self-sufficiency as adults. Some children manifest the signs and symptoms of a serious mental disorder at an early age. Failure to intervene early can result not only in the loss of a childhood, but also lost potential-and loss of a child's future. For some young children, medication is appropriate and has proven highly effective in dramatically improving the quality of their lives. In some cases, it has saved lives. Given the unacceptably high number of children and adolescents with ADHD and other mental illnesses who fail to be identified and treated, our focus should be on better education and training for providers, school personnel and families and disseminating the most current research and evidence-based information on ADHD and other mental disorders affecting children. We must address the sad reality that only 1 in 5 children suffering from a mental illness, including ADHD, receives treatment. Actions that should be taken to prevent further tragedies NAMI continues to ask Congress to act on the U.S. Surgeon General's call to address the health care crisis in this country by improving early recognition and appropriate identification of mental illnesses within all of the systems serving children and adolescents (schools, primary care, juvenile justice, child welfare and others). Future hearings should focus on ensuring that federal, state and local governments make a real commitment to developing systems that meet the treatment needs of children and adolescents with mental illnesses and their families. It is unacceptable that so many children fall through the cracks. Congress should keep its promise to provide full funding for IDEA. Congress must make an appropriate investment in the special education system in this country to ensure that children with disabilities, especially those with mental illnesses, are given a fair chance for an appropriate education. NAMI families tell us that school personnel often fail to understand the basics about early-onset mental illnesses. It is hard to imagine how school personnel can be expected to address the education needs of children with mental illnesses without adequate training. We must invest in school-based training so that school personnel can recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness and can develop the skills to effectively work with these students. Also, schools should make a commitment to the early identification of students with mental health needs early in the school years, just as schools identify students with visual, auditory and other health concerns. High dropout rates among students with mental illnesses are correlated to shortages of qualified personnel. Congress should increase its commitment to fund research to continue progress in understanding early onset mental illnesses, including ADHD. NAMI supports increases in federal funding for research on childhood mental illnesses and continued research in child psychopharmacology. Congress should address the profound shortage of qualified mental health providers in this country to serve children and adolescents and their families. This shortage presents a real barrier to children accessing critically-need treatment and services. Families are often told that they must wait 6 months or longer for their child to see a qualified mental health provider. Congress should focus on promoting awareness of early-onset mental illnesses and recognizing the serious adverse impact that untreated mental illnesses can have on families and reducing the stigma that families often face with a child is diagnosed with a mental illness. Mr. Chairman, this hearing presented an ideal opportunity for the Committee to engage informed scientists in a thoughtful discussion about the current status of research on ADHD and other childhood mental disorders and how best to properly diagnose and treat these disorders. Unfortunately, the hearing provided an opportunity for those whose quest it is to discredit the very existence of ADHD and the value of medication in treating ADHD and other mental illnesses to further perpetuate the stigma of childhood mental illness. This type of misinformation only serves to further stigmatize mental illnesses and perpetuates the shame that so many families feel when their child suffers from a mental illness. It harms families by making it harder for them to make informed treatment choices for their child. I would respectfully suggest that the committee focus its attention in the future on why children with these illnesses are not being identified or provided with treatment and services that they so desperately need to succeed in school - and ultimately in their lives.
DIANE P. WOOD January 17, 1995 Good afternoon. I am delighted to appear -- as Henry King mentioned, for the second time -- before this distinguished group of international lawyers. The Greater Cleveland International Lawyers Group includes a rare combination of legal specialists and representatives from the important industries located in this area. For my part, this makes me especially eager for today's discussion to be a two-way street: I will give you an overview of the international enforcement activities that are underway at the Antitrust Division, with particular emphasis on the draft International Guidelines that we published jointly with the Federal Trade Commission last October, and I hope that you will let me know your thoughts on those guidelines, and more generally your views about the direction we have taken and should take in the coming year. I hardly need remind this audience of the importance of the international dimension of antitrust enforcement. As Assistant Attorney General Anne Bingaman frequently notes, international transactions today account for nearly a quarter of the United States' Gross Domestic Product. Imports provide a nearly bewildering array of choices for U.S. consumers, and the competition they provide for domestic industries has helped to stimulate technological advances here at home, which in turn make our products more competitive overseas. Exports play an equally important role in the health of our economy, both for the industries that export goods and services directly, and for the many upstream jobs that each export supports. Our emphasis on international enforcement of the antitrust laws is, in light of the global nature of business, simply inevitable. In the time I have available, I will begin by discussing some of the major cases we have brought since Anne Bingaman became the Assistant Attorney General in June of 1993, and I was fortunate enough to be asked by Anne and the Attorney General to serve as the International Deputy. I will then bring you up to date on the International Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act of 1994, which President Clinton signed into law on November 2, 1994. Finally, as I noted above, I will discuss the high points of our draft Antitrust Enforcement Guidelines for International Operations. I will leave plenty of time for questions and comments from the group, either on these topics or others of particular interest to you. I. International Case Initiatives Our international cases have arisen in virtually every area of antitrust enforcement: we have had civil cases under both section 1 and section 2 of the Sherman Act; we have reviewed and addressed our concerns in a variety of international mergers and acquisitions; and we have been active in international criminal enforcement. I will review these quickly, since I assume that you are generally familiar with the story. Civil Enforcement. Let me begin with the civil, non-merger, cases, both in the international field and across-the-board. While I cannot discuss most of our activities here, because they involve on-going investigations, three matters are on the public record, and they indicate the scope of what we are prepared to do. First is the action we brought against the United Kingdom company Pilkington, which was settled by a consent decree filed in the District of Arizona. That case is well known as the first action challenging restraints on U.S. exports since the Bush Administration in April 1992 withdrew the famous (or infamous) "footnote 159" of the 1988 International Guidelines, which had stated that the Department would not bring actions when the only anticompetitive effect was on the exports of U.S. exporters, and thus no immediate consumer welfare harm in the United States was discernible. I will have more to say about that policy and its repeal when I discuss our draft International Guidelines, but for now it is enough to say that the Division has consistently supported the restoration in April 1992, under Jim Rill's leadership during the Bush Administration, of the longstanding U.S. concern with restraints on exports. The Pilkington consent decree is the first one filed under the restored policy. Beyond the fundamental jurisdictional point, there are several other important lessons to be drawn from the Pilkington decree. First, it involved a complex network of licenses, whose scope was greatly in excess of any remaining intellectual property they purported to protect, and that literally had the effect of dividing up the entire world for glass-making technology and plant construction. Second, all relevant actors had extensive contacts with the United States market, including of course Pilkington itself. Third, the decree does not require Pilkington to give up any legitimate trade secrets that it still retains, which illustrates both our commitment to respect bona fide intellectual property and our determination not to allow restrictions that go far beyond those needed to protect such property rights. Finally, the case illustrates how the elimination of anticompetitive restrictions can create market opportunities for all competitors. As a result of our consent decree, U.S. firms will have the right to bid on projects that will involve up to $1 billion during the next few years. The international dimension of the Microsoft case was different in a number of respects from Pilkington. First, of course, it did not focus on exports from the United States, but rather on the effect of the challenged practices on competition within the United States market. Second, the decree was the result of an unprecedented type of cooperation with a foreign competition authority -- the Commission of the European Union -- because the company itself believed it would be beneficial to allow close cooperation to take place. Microsoft accordingly agreed to waive whatever confidentiality rights it would otherwise have been able to assert to prevent the two agencies from working together, which allowed both the investigations and the eventual settlement negotiations to take place in a fully coordinated manner. The result was that on July 15, 1994, the Antitrust Division and the Commission reached essentially identical settlements with Microsoft, which the Commission implemented immediately under its procedures by obtaining binding "undertakings" from Microsoft, and which we implemented by filing a proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia pursuant to the Tunney Act. Proceedings on the consent decree are still pending in that court. The third civil matter that I want to bring to your attention may not be one that is quite as well known. It involves one of our pending investigations, into possible world-wide anticompetitive arrangements in the distribution and performance of music videos and related programming. We sought, through Civil Investigative Demands, to obtain information located within the United States, from U.S. companies, that is relevant to this investigation. When the CID recipients resisted, on the ground that any eventual lawsuit relating to non-U.S. activities would exceed our jurisdiction, we filed a motion to enforce the CID's in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. That motion has now been briefed by all parties, and is awaiting argument in the court. Obviously, there are limits on what I can say about the case itself. However, the motion to enforce the CID's makes several points clear. First, we are just as concerned with service and intellectual property based industries as we are with more traditional "goods" industries. Second, when we have reason to believe that anticompetitive restrictions in world markets exist that affect both exports from the United States and industries within the United States, we will investigate these matters carefully. Third, we clearly have jurisdiction to look into such matters using U.S. based materials: this is not a case where the existence of foreign blocking laws or other evidentiary issues are even remotely relevant. I invite you to watch the progress of the motion to enforce as it moves through the courts. Mergers and acquisitions. Mergers and acquisitions frequently involve some foreign dimension, if one of the parties has a foreign owner, or has foreign affiliates, or has foreign assets. I could not possibly describe all these cases, nor would you want me to, because most mergers will not have anticompetitive effects, and most do not present anything noteworthy from the standpoint of international enforcement. As the Clayton Act mandates, our question is always whether the transaction may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce in any section of the United States, and the pre-merger notification system of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act allows us to investigate this question just as effectively in cases with international elements as in others. Two cases do stand out, however, because they involve more than the normal process. During the General Motors (Allison Division)/Zed F investigation -- which is better known for the concept of innovation markets for heavy-duty transmissions alleged in the third Court in the government's case challenging that acquisition -- we knew that the German Federal Cartel Office was also reviewing the same deal. Through coordination with that office on key points such as the procedural status of each of our cases, we were each able independently to come to a satisfactory solution. In our case, we filed suit to block the transaction, and the parties decided to abandon it. The Federal Cartel Office was also prepared to move to block it. British Telecom/MCI is an instructive example of an acquisition that was allowed to proceed after creative conditions were devised to alleviate our concerns about competition both for U.S. consumers' access to various international telecommunications services, and for access to the U.K. market for other U.S. long distance providers, were addressed in a consent decree. The consent decree takes full account of the regulatory situation in the U.K., and of the fact that U.K. law itself is committed to the principle of nondiscrimination and competitive access. The decree acknowledges the role of the U.K.'s Office of Telecommunication (OFTEL), and carefully seeks to avoid conflicts between the Antitrust Division's continuing role in enforcing the decree (designed to protect the U.S. interests I noted) and OFTEL's responsibility for the U.K. market. Particularly in sectors where regulation plays an important role, this approach will be important. It is a good illustration of what we mean when we say that we incorporate principles of international comity in our enforcement decisions. Criminal. Criminal enforcement continues to be a core part of the Division's mission. We have expanded certain aspects of our criminal enforcement program, through greater efforts to coordinate and cooperate with the state attorneys general, through more effective use of our own seven field offices, through our new Individual Leniency Program and our broader Corporate Leniency Program, and through our intensive efforts to increase our own internal efficiency. With respect to international cartels, the greatest single obstacle we face is practical: how to collect the evidence we need to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime has occurred, and how to get the individuals and companies involved before our courts. I do not mean to say that these problems are insurmountable; plainly they are not, given the fact that the Division has brought many successful international criminal cases over the years. Nevertheless, it is time-consuming and cumbersome to use procedures such as formal letters rogatory; those procedures are often not available at the investigatory stage of a case, as opposed to the post-filing stage; and there can be problems using them for antitrust criminal enforcement in countries whose own antitrust law does not include criminal penalties, and who insist on dual criminality as a condition for rendering assistance. Most importantly, the traditional procedures evolved at a time before the major industrial countries all had competition laws. Often they are simply not well adapted to antitrust enforcement needs. In light of these circumstances, it is no accident that the biggest news for our international criminal enforcement program comes from Canada, where we have had in effect since 1990 a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that explicitly covers antitrust. Both countries have successfully used the MLAT for investigatory assistance. It has operated as a genuine two-way street: to date, there has been no serious imbalance in the number of requests for assistance by one side to the other as compared with the occasions when assistance was rendered. In 1994, we used the MLAT successfully in two major cases. In the first, plastic dinnerware, we were able to obtain guilty pleas in this industry thanks in large part to assistance from the Canadians (including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in obtaining evidence located in Canada. In the second, fax paper, we brought the first joint (or perhaps more accurately, simultaneous) prosecutions, also due to very close cooperation under the MLAT. The third prominent international criminal case did not have such a successful outcome, from the Division's point of view, but it certainly gave additional force to the widespread recognition of the need for better tools for international information-gathering. I am speaking, of course, about the prosecution of General Electric and De Beers for price-fixing in the industrial diamonds market. As you certainly know, since this trial was in Ohio, the judge ordered a Rule 29(a) judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the prosecution's case, finding that the government's evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction on the offenses charged. I am not here today to reargue that case. As Anne Bingaman said when the judgment was entered, we respect the judge's decision. The message I take is forward-looking: we must have better tools to seek foreign-located evidence, and we believe the IAEAA is a major step forward in that direction. There will be many cases where key actions take place in Europe, Asia, or Latin America. Key witnesses will often be outside of the United States. When we investigate foreign price-fixing conspiracies, we do so because they inflict serious harm on U.S. customers for the product in question. Why should criminal price-fixers be able to hide their documents and witnesses outside our country and escape all accountability for their actions? Or, look at the problem from the opposite perspective: suppose we were investigating a matter in which the parties actually were innocent. With full access to investigatory facts, wherever they were located, we would be able to determine this too, and we would not seek indictments. Either way, antitrust enforcement and the interests of law-abiding companies are served by full access to the evidence. The future of international enforcement will depend in large part on our efforts and those of our counterparts in other countries to address this problem. We have taken the first few steps to do so, both through our program of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (which in some but not all cases cover antitrust) and, more importantly, through our new legislation. Let me turn now to that law, known to the cognoscenti as the IAEAA. II. International Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act of 1994 This law was passed in record time -- only ten weeks -- thanks to the strong bi-partisan support it enjoyed in the Congress and in the business community. It was co-sponsored in the Senate by Senators Metzenbaum, Thurmond, Kennedy, Biden, Leahy, Simon, Simpson, Grassley, Hatch, and Specter and in the House by Representatives Brooks and Fish. Former AAG James Rill led an ABA task force that supported the bill, and he personally testified in support of it in both Houses. It was passed with overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, and signed into law by President Clinton on November 2, 1994. Perhaps the most important message I can deliver about this new law is this: it enables the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to create a framework within which the U.S. agencies will be able to cooperate and to exchange information on a case-by-case basis with a foreign agency that is prepared to do the same for us. It does so first by making it perfectly clear that we will be able to extend the necessary protection to confidential information we receive from a foreign agency, when the necessary antitrust mutual assistance agreement covering that country or agency is in place. Second, it does so by lifting the prohibition under which we would otherwise be operating against the exchange of certain categories of confidential information that we collect: namely, information either agency collects through civil investigative demand, information the FTC gets through administrative subpoenas, and -- only when a federal judge issues an order under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) -- information the Antitrust Division acquires in the course of grand jury proceedings. The statute does not lift existing prohibitions protecting the confidentiality of materials submitted pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification procedures, nor does it permit the sharing of information that is either classified or in the process of being classified. Third, if a foreign agency party to an antitrust mutual assistance agreement needs the assistance of a U.S. court, it permits the Attorney General to go to court to seek such assistance. In order to benefit from these statutory provisions, the U.S. agencies must enter into specific antitrust mutual assistance agreements using the procedures spelled out in the statute. The statute also makes clear what those agreements must contain, at a minimum: provisions designed to assure that the confidentiality of any information sent to a foreign agency by a U.S. agency will be protected just as well as it would be here; provisions detailing required procedures in case a breach of confidentiality occurs, including notice to the providing agency, notice to the providing party, and an obligation on the entity which committed the breach to ensure that steps are taken to prevent future occurrences (and if they are inadequate, termination of the agreement). The entire system operates on the principle of reciprocity: we need information from other countries, and in order to get it, we must be in a position to give them information when they need it. We are now in the very preliminary phases of briefing all interested persons -- including groups like yourselves, the international business community, and our counterpart agencies in countries with antitrust laws that cover the same matters as ours. It is plainly impossible for me to say exactly which country might be interested in having such an agreement, or when we might either begin or conclude any negotiations. What I can say is that you and the public at large will be fully informed before any such agreement enters into force, and that is an iron-clad guarantee. The statute itself, using a system that is rather unusual for international agreements, requires us to publish the text of a proposed agreement in the Federal Register before it can enter into force. The public will be entitled to comment on the agreement, to bring to our attention any experience individual commentators may have with the country in question, or to address any other point. However, if on the basis of the comments we realize that we must go back to the bargaining table, any amended text we reach must go through the same comment process before the agreement can enter into force. This unusual level of public scrutiny is due to our recognition of the importance of the confidentiality concerns that the business community communicated to us, and our desire to be as certain as possible that we are fully informed before we create the framework for specific case cooperation. We are aware that many people both here and abroad have expressed qualms about the prospect of antitrust agencies sharing confidential business information. American businesses fear the foreign agencies, and foreign businesses are apprehensive about the fate of their documents in our hands. Let me assure you that we understand this, and from what I have heard from many foreign agencies, they appreciate it too. Frankly, the problem we all face is a practical one. Where business itself is multinational, two outcomes are predictable: first, more cases will involve conduct that takes place in one country but that has anticompetitive effects on consumer welfare within a second country; second, more cases will actually require enforcement action in two countries (like fax paper). It is in no one's interest to ignore the first kind of case, or to have the second kind handled with the two authorities hermetically sealed off from one another. The type of controlled and modest inter-agency information sharing arrangement we are now able to create seems greatly preferable to some kind of supranational World Competition Authority, to which everyone reports and which will receive itself all this confidential business information. III. Draft International Guidelines On October 13, 1994, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission released for public comment new Antitrust Enforcement Guidelines for International Operations. They were then published in the Federal Register on October 19th, which triggered a 60-day public comment period that ended on December 19th. They represent the two Agencies' attempt to provide clear and uniform antitrust guidance to the business community. We are in the process right now of reviewing the comments that were sent to us. I cannot say when the final guidelines will be published, because we intend to review these comments very carefully and respond to the best of our ability to the key points that have been raised. If you have not seen the draft, it is readily available through BNA and CCH publications, and it is on the Department of Justice's Internet gopher, [email protected]. In the time I have remaining, I would like to describe briefly both what these draft guidelines do, and what they do not do. As I proceed, I will try to highlight the more important differences and similarities that exist when one compares this draft to the 1988 International Guidelines, which the draft withdraws. Two differences in scope are immediately apparent to the reader, one that broadens these guidelines and one that narrows them. For the first time, the international guidelines are a joint product of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Both of our agencies are justifiably proud of this accomplishment, because we considered it especially important for the United States to speak with one voice when it operates in the international arena. It is in this respect that the new draft is significantly broader than any of its predecessors. The 1994 draft is narrower insofar as it does not, unlike the 1988 guidelines (and somewhat more like the 1977 guide), attempt to provide encyclopedic guidance about the substance of antitrust law. Although the restatement of general antitrust law was undoubtedly helpful to the foreign portion of the audience for these guidelines, we had two reasons for refraining from following this model. First, and most important, we disagree with the implication (stated or unstated) that substantive antitrust law is different in principle for international transactions. It is not. The results in any given case might well be affected by the international context, since it will affect the data that go into market analysis, entry conditions, and those who suffer anticompetitive effects. This, however, is only to say that antitrust results depend upon a case-by-case analysis of all relevant facts, which is a proposition that holds equally well for domestic cases. The second reason not to include general substantive guidance is our desire to avoid duplication or worse, confusion. We have already undertaken Herculean efforts to provide guidance in the particular areas that were treated in the 1988 guidelines, where we were in a position to do so. There is nothing to gain and everything to lose in an effort to restate the 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, or the draft Guidelines for the Enforcement and Acquisition of Intellectual Property, in this document. The Assistant Attorney General has already explained her views on vertical transactions, in the statement she issued when she withdrew the 1985 Vertical Restraints Guidelines. Some have expressed a desire for joint venture guidelines, or vertical merger guidelines. If either or both are a good idea -- and I am not passing judgment right now on that question -- they are a good idea for all such transactions, not just those that fortuitously have an international element. The topics included in the 1994 draft are the doctrines with particular relevance to international enforcement, as well as the effect of certain laws with particular international significance. Thus, section 3 of the guidelines covers key threshold issues such as subject matter jurisdiction, comity, defenses or additional considerations that arise when foreign government involvement exists, and the interaction between the antitrust laws and the international trade laws. For the first time, in Section 4, we have included a brief discussion of important investigative issues that arise in international transactions, such as the ability of the Agencies to obtain evidence located abroad and certain Hart-Scott-Rodino exemptions for foreign transactions or parties. Throughout the draft, following the format we used in the Intellectual Property draft, we have interspersed Illustrative Examples. The message that the reader should take from these guidelines, taken as a whole, is straightforward. We are committed to serious enforcement of the antitrust laws in the international area throughout the areas that Congress and the court have defined as within our responsibility. That means that we follow the Supreme Court's Hartford Fire test for jurisdiction when imports have a direct and intended effect in the U.S. market. That means that we follow the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act of 1982, or FTAIA, when it confers jurisdiction over foreign transactions and conduct that have a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on U.S. domestic or import commerce. And that means that we follow the FTAIA when it confers jurisdiction over conduct abroad that has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the export commerce of U.S. exporters. Let me emphasize that the latter two are statutory bases for our jurisdiction. This is why, in 1992, the Bush Administration, under the leadership of former Attorney General William Barr and former Assistant Attorney General James Rill, rejected the 1988 "footnote 159," and this is why we have consistently stated that we adhere to the 1992 policy, as is now set forth in 3.133 of our draft. On the other hand, the draft guidelines are designed to send an equally strong message about the importance the Agencies attach to international comity, and our commitment to working cooperatively with our foreign counterparts. We no longer live in a world where only the United States has a strong antitrust law, and other countries are either hostile or indifferent to competition policy. I have been impressed time and time again when I have attended meetings of the OECD's Committee on Competition Law and Policy with the sophistication, commitment, and seriousness of the antitrust enforcers from the various countries around the table. Activities and companies in the United States affect their markets just as often as activities and companies in their countries affect ours. Necessarily, we live in a world where overlapping antitrust jurisdiction is a fact. Enforcement in general, we believe, is best served when each country watches out for anticompetitive effects in its own market, but each country is also prepared to cooperate to the greatest extent legally possible with fellow enforcers. As Anne has said many times, we antitrust enforcers all sit at the same side of the table; we're all in the same business. That is why our message on the scope of our international responsibilities is in no way inconsistent with our strong commitment to international comity and cooperation. The guidelines have both messages woven throughout, and we will do our best to make sure that we are understood. This has been an incredibly exciting and challenging time to serve in the Antitrust Division. I am eternally grateful to Anne, to Attorney General Reno, and to President Clinton for giving me the opportunity to do so. I can assure you that, for me, nothing is more important than ensuring that the growing international sector of the U.S. economy abides by the same fundamental rules of competition policy that have worked so well for us for more than a century. We are working hard today to put in place the institutions, policies, and laws that will serve us in the years and decades to come, as the international economy becomes more and more integrated and the lines between "domestic" and "international" transactions blur perhaps beyond the point of recognition. With our cases, our new legislation, and our guidelines, we have made a good start. With your help, we can continue and succeed. Thank you very much.
George Mueller's Strategy for Showing God Simplicity of Faith, Sacred Scripture, and Satisfaction in God 2004 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors George Mueller was a native German (a Prussian). He was born in Kroppenstaedt on September 27, 1805 and lived almost the entire nineteenth century. He died March 10, 1898 at the age of 92. He saw the great awakening of 1859 which he said “led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands.”1 He did follow up work for D. L. Moody,2 preached for Charles Spurgeon,3 and inspired the missionary faith of Hudson Taylor.4 He spent most of his life in Bristol, England and pastored the same church there for over sixty-six years—a kind of independent, premillennial,5 Calvinistic6 Baptist7 church that celebrated the Lord's supper weekly8 and admitted non-baptized people into membership.9 If this sounds unconventional, that would be accurate. He was a maverick not only in his church life but in almost all the areas of his life. But his eccentricities were almost all large-hearted and directed outward for the good of others. A. T. Pierson, who wrote the biography that Mueller's son-in-law endorsed as authoritative,10 captured the focus of this big-hearted eccentricity when he said, George Mueller “devised large and liberal things for the Lord's cause.”11 In 1834 (when he was 28) he founded The Scripture Knowledge Institute for Home and Abroad,12 because he was disillusioned with the post-millennialism, the liberalism, and the worldly strategies (like going into debt13) of existing mission organizations.14 Five branches of this Institute developed: 1) Schools for children and adults to teach Bible knowledge, 2) Bible distribution, 3) missionary support, 4) tract and book distribution, and 5) “to board, clothe and Scripturally educate destitute children who have lost both parents by death.”15 The accomplishments of all five branches were significant,16 but the one he was known for around the world in his own lifetime, and still today, was the orphan ministry. He built five large orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. When he started in 1834 there were accommodations for 3,600 orphans in all of England and twice that many children under eight were in prison.17 One of the great effects of Mueller's ministry was to inspire others so that “fifty years after Mr. Mueller began his work, at least one hundred thousand orphans were cared for in England alone.”18 He did all this while he was preaching three times a week from 1830 to 1898, at least 10,000 times.19 And when he turned 70 he fulfilled a life-long dream of missionary work for the next 17 years until he was 87. He traveled to 42 countries,20 preaching on average of once a day,21 and addressing some three million people.22 He preached nine times here in Minneapolis in 1880 (nine years after the founding of Bethlehem Baptist Church). From the end of his travels in 1892 (when he was 87) until his death in March of 1898 he preached in his church and worked for the Scripture Knowledge Institute. At age 92, not long before he died, he wrote, “I have been able, every day and all the day to work, and that with ease, as seventy years since.”23 He led a prayer meeting at his church on the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 1898. The next day a cup of tea was taken to him at seven in the morning but no answer came to the knock on the door. He was found dead on the floor beside his bed. 24 The funeral was held the following Monday in Bristol, where he had served for sixty-six years. “Tens of thousands of people reverently stood along the route of the simple procession; men left their workshops and offices, women left their elegant homes or humble kitchens, all seeking to pay a last token of respect.”25 A thousand children gathered for a service at the Orphan House No. 3. They had now “for a second time lost a ‘father'.”26 He had read his Bible from end to end almost 200 times.27 He had prayed in millions of dollars (in today's currency28) for the Orphans and never asked anyone directly for money. He never took a salary in the last 68 years of his ministry, but trusted God to put in people's hearts to send him what he needed. He never took out a loan or went into debt.29 And neither he nor the orphans were ever hungry. The eccentric pastor and orphan-lover was gone. He had been married twice: to Mary Groves when he was 25, and to Susannah Sangar when he was 66. Mary bore him four children. Two were stillborn. One son Elijah died when he was a year old. His daughter Lydia married James Wright who succeeded Mueller as the head of the Institute. But she died in 1890 at 57 years old. Five years later Mueller lost his second wife, just three years before he died. And so he outlived his family and was left alone with his Savior, his church, and two thousand children. He had been married to Mary for 39 years and to Susannah for 23 years. He preached Mary's funeral sermon when he was 64,30 and he preached Susannah's funeral sermon when he was 90.31 It's what he said in the face of this loss and pain that gives us the key to his life. Mary's Death and the Key to His Life We have the full text of the message at Mary's funeral and we have his own recollections of this loss. To feel the force of what he says, we have to know that they loved each other deeply and enjoyed each other in the work they shared. Were we happy? Verily we were. With every year our happiness increased more and more. I never saw my beloved wife at any time, when I met her unexpectedly anywhere in Bristol, without being delighted so to do. I never met her even in the Orphan Houses, without my heart being delighted so to do. Day by day, as we met in our dressing room, at the Orphan Houses, to wash our hands before dinner and tea, I was delighted to meet her, and she was equally pleased to seeme. Thousands of times I told her—“My darling, I never saw you at any time, since you became my wife, without my being delighted to see you.”32 Then came the diagnosis: “When I heard what Mr. Pritchard's judgment was, viz., that the malady was rheumatic fever, I naturally expected the worst. . . . My heart was nigh to be broken on account of the depth of my affection.”33 The one who had seen God answer 10,000 prayers for the support of the orphan, this time did not get what he asked. Or did he? Twenty minutes after four, Lord's Day, February 6, 1870, Mary died. “I fell on my knees and thanked God for her release, and for having taken her to Himself, and asked the Lord to help and support us.”34 He recalled later how he strengthened himself during these hours. And here we see the key to his life. The last portion of scripture which I read to my precious wife was this: “The Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Now, if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have received grace, we are partakers of grace, and to all such he will give glory also. I said to myself, with regard to the latter part, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”—I am in myself a poor worthless sinner, but I have been saved by the blood of Christ; and I do not live in sin, I walk uprightly before God. Therefore, if it is really good for me, my darling wife will be raised up again; sick as she is. God will restore her again. But if she is not restored again, then it would not be a good thing for me. And so my heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at his word, believing what he says.35 Here is the cluster of unshakable convictions and experiences that are the key to this remarkable life. “I am in myself a poor worthless sinner.”I have been saved by the blood of Christ.” “I do not live in sin.”God is sovereign over life and death. If it is good for her and for me, she will be restored again. If not she won't.”My heart is at rest.”I am satisfied with God.” All this comes from taking God at his word. There you see the innermost being of George Mueller and the key to his life. The word of God, revealing his sin, revealing his Savior, revealing God's sovereignty, revealing God's goodness, revealing God's promise, awakening his faith, satisfying his soul. “I was satisfied with God.” The Gift of Faith vs. the Grace of Faith So were his prayers for Mary answered? To understand how Mueller himself would answer this question, we have to see the way he distinguished between the extraordinary gift of faith and the more ordinary grace of faith. He constantly insisted that he did not have the gift of faith when people put him on a pedestal just because he would pray for his own needs and the needs of the orphans, and the money would arrive in remarkable ways. Think not, dear reader, that Ihave the gift of faith, that is, that gift of which we read in 1 Corinthians 12:9, and which is mentioned along with “the gifts of healing,” “the working of miracles,”prophecy,” and that on that account I am able to trust in the Lord. It is true that the faith, which I am enabled to exercise, is altogether God's own gift; it is true that He alone supports it, and that He alone can increase it; it is true that, moment by moment, I depend upon Him for it, and that, if I were only one moment left to myself, my faith would utterly fail; but it is not true that my faith is that gift of faith which is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:9.36 The reason he is so adamant about this is that his whole life—especially in the way he supported the orphans by faith and prayer without asking anyone but God for money—was consciously planned to encourage Christians that God could really be trusted to meet their needs. We will never understand George Mueller's passion for the orphan ministry if we don't see that the good of the orphans was second to this. The three chief reasons for establishing an Orphan-House are: 1. That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare.37 And make no mistake about it: the order of those three goals is intentional. He makes that explicit over and over in his Narrative. The orphan houses exist to display that God can be trusted and to encourage believers to take him at his word. This was a deep sense of calling with Mueller. He said that God had given him the mercy in “being able to take God by His word and to rely upon it.”38 He was grieved that “so many believers . . . were harassed and distressed in mind, or brought guilt on their consciences, on account of not trusting in the Lord.” This grace that he had to trust God's promises, and this grief that so many believers didn't trust his promises, shaped Mueller's entire life. This was his supreme passion: to display with open proofs that God could be trusted with the practical affairs of life. This was the higher aim of building the orphan houses and supporting them by asking God, not people, for money. It seemed to me best done, by the establishing of an Orphan-House. It needed to be something which could be seen, even by the natural eye. Now, if I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained, without asking any individual, the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House: there would be something which, with the Lord's blessing, might be instrumental in strengthening the faith of the children of God besides being a testimony to the consciences of the unconverted, of the reality of the things of God. This, then, was the primary reason, for establishing the Orphan-House. . . The first and primary object of the work was, (and still is) that God might be magnified by the fact, that the orphans under my care are provided, with all they need, only by prayer and faith, without any one being asked by me or my fellow-laborers, whereby it may be seen, that God is FAITHFUL STILL, and HEARS PRAYER STILL.39 That was the chief passion and unifying aim of Mueller's ministry: live a life and lead a ministry in a way that proves God is real, God is trustworthy, God answers prayer. He built orphanages the way he did to help Christians trust God. He says it over and over again.40 Now we see why he is so adamant that his faith is not the gift of faith in 1 Corinthians 12:9 that only some people have, but was the grace of faith that all Christians should have.41 Now we are ready to see this crucial distinction he made between the gift of faith and the grace of faith. His entire aim in life hung on this. If Christians simply said: “Mueller is in a class by himself. He has the gift of faith,” then we are all off the hook and he is no longer a prod and proof and inspiration for how we ought to live. Here is what he says The difference between the gift and the grace of faith seems to me this. According to the gift of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, the not doing of which, or the not believing of which would not be sin; according to the grace of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, respecting which I have the word of God as the ground to rest upon, and, therefore, the not doing it, or the not believing it would be sin. For instance, the gift of faith would be needed, to believe that a sick person should be restored again though there is no human probability: for there is no promise to that effect; the grace of faith is needed to believe that the Lord will give me the necessaries of life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness: for there is a promise to that effect. Matthew 6:33.42 Mueller did not think he had any biblical ground for being certain that God would spare his wife Mary. He admits that a few times in his life he was given “something like the gift (not grace) of faith so that unconditionally I could ask and look for an answer,”43 but he did not have that rare gift in Mary's case. And so he prayed for her healing conditionally—namely, if it would be good for them and for God's glory. But most deeply he prayed that they would be satisfied in God whatever he did. And God did answer that prayer by helping Mueller believe Psalm 84:11. No good thing will God withhold. God withheld no good thing from him, and he was satisfied with God's sovereign will. All this, he says, “springs from taking God at his word, believing what he says.” How Did Mueller Get to this Position? Let's go back and let him tell the story—essential parts of which are omitted from all the biographies I have looked at. His father was an unbeliever and George grew up a liar and a thief, by his own testimony.44 His mother died when he was 14, and he records no impact that this loss had on him except that while she was dying he was roving the streets with his friends “half intoxicated.”45 He went on living a bawdy life, and then found himself in prison for stealing when he was 16 years old. His father paid to get him out, beat him, and took him to live in another town (Schoenbeck). Mueller used his academic skills to make money by tutoring in Latin, French, and mathematics. Finally his father sent him to the University of Halle to study divinity and prepare for the ministry because that would be a good living. Neither he nor George had any spiritual aspirations. Of the 900 divinity students in Halle, Mueller later estimated that maybe nine feared the Lord. 46 Then on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of November, 1825, when Mueller was 20 years old, he was invited to a Bible study and, by the grace of God, felt the desire to go. “It was to me as if I had found something after which I had been seeking all my life long. I immediately wished to go.”47 “They read the Bible, sang, prayed, and read a printed sermon.”48 To his amazement Mueller said, “The whole made a deep impression on me. I was happy; though, if I had been asked, why I was happy I could not have clearly explained it. “I have not the least doubt, that on that evening, [God] began a work of grace in me. . . . That evening was the turning point in my life.”49 That's true. But there was another turning point four years later that the biographies do not open for the reader, but which for Mueller was absolutely decisive in shaping the way he viewed God and the way he did ministry. A Decisive Turning Point: Confidence in the Sovereign Goodness of God He came to England in the hope of being a missionary with the London Missionary Society. Soon he found his theology and ministry convictions turning away from the LMS, until there was a break. In the meantime, a momentous encounter happened. Mueller became sick (thank God for providential sickness!) and in the summer of 1829 he went for recovery to a town called Teignmouth. There in a little chapel called Ebenezer at least two crucial discoveries were made: the preciousness of reading and meditating on the word of God,50 and the truth of the doctrines of grace.51 For ten days Mueller lived with a nameless man who change his life forever: “Through the instrumentality of this brother the Lord bestowed a great blessing upon me, for which I shall have cause to thank Him throughout eternity.”52 Before this period I had been much opposed to the doctrines of election, particular redemption, and final persevering grace; so much so that, a few days after my arrival at Teignmouth, I called election a devilish doctrine. . . I knew nothing about the choice of God's people, and did not believe that the child of God, when once made so, was safe for ever. . . . But now I was brought to examine these precious truths by the word of God.53 He was led to embrace the doctrines of grace—the robust, mission-minded, soul-winning, orphan-loving Calvinism that marked William Carey, who died in 1834, and that would mark Charles Spurgeon, who was born in 1834.54 About forty years later, in 1870, Mueller spoke to some young believers about the importance of what had happened to him at Teignmouth. He said that his preaching had been fruitless for four years from 1825 to 1829 in Germany, but then he came to England and was taught the doctrines of grace. In the course of time I came to this country, and it pleased God then to show to me the doctrines of grace in a way in which I had not seen them before. At first I hated them, “If this were true I could do nothing at all in the conversion of sinners, as all would depend upon God and the working of His Spirit.” But when it pleased God to reveal these truths to me, and my heart was brought to such a state that I could say, “I am not only content simply to be a hammer, an axe, or a saw, in God's hands; but I shall count it an honor to be taken up and used by Him in any way; and if sinners are converted through my instrumentality, from my inmost soul I will give Him all the glory; the Lord gave me to see fruit; the Lord gave me to see fruit in abundance; sinners were converted by scores; and ever since God has used me in one way or other in His service.”55 This discovery of the all-encompassing sovereignty of God became the foundation of Mueller's confidence in God to answer his prayers for money. He gave up his regular salary.56 He refused to ask people directly for money.57 He prayed and published his reports about the goodness of God and the answers to his prayer.58 These yearly reports were circulated around the world, and they clearly had a huge effect in motivating people to give to the orphan work.59 Mueller knew that God used means. In fact, he loved to say, “Work with all your might; but trust not in the least in your work.”60 But he also insisted that his hope was in God alone, not his exertions and not the published reports. These means could not account for the remarkable answers that he received. Mueller's faith that his prayers for money would be answered was rooted in the sovereignty of God. When faced with a crisis in having the means to pay a bill he would say, “How the means are to come, I know not; but I know that God is almighty, that the hearts of all are in His hands, and that, if He pleaseth to influence persons, they will send help.”61 That is the root of his confidence: God is almighty, the hearts of all men are in his hands,62 and when God chooses to influence their hearts they will give. He had come to know and love this absolute sovereignty of God in the context of the doctrines of grace, and therefore he cherished it mainly as sovereign goodness.63 This gave him a way to maintain a personal peace beyond human understanding in the midst of tremendous stress and occasional tragedy. “The Lord never lays more on us,” he said, “in the way of chastisement, than our state of heart makes needful; so that whilst He smites with the one hand, He supports with the other.”64 In the face of painful circumstances he says, “I bow, I am satisfied with the will of my Heavenly Father, I seek by perfect submission to His holy will to glorify Him, I kiss continually the hand that has thus afflicted me.”65 And when he is about to lose a piece of property that he wants for the next orphan house, he says, “If the Lord were to take this piece of land from me, it would be only for the purpose of giving me a still better one; for our Heavenly Father never takes any earthly thing from His children except He means to give them something better instead.”66 This is what I mean by confidence in God's sovereign goodness. This is the root of Mueller's faith and ministry. The Aroma of Mueller's Calvinism: Satisfaction and Glad Self-Denial But there was an aroma about Mueller's Calvinism that was different from many stereotypes. For him the sovereign goodness of God served, first and foremost, the satisfaction of the soul. And then the satisfied soul was freed to sacrifice and live a life of simplicity and risk and self-denial and love. But everything flowed from the soul that is first satisfied in the gracious, sovereign God. Mueller is clearer on this than anyone I have ever read. He is unashamed to sound almost childishly simple: According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord's work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.67 Why is this “the most important thing”? Why is daily happiness in God “of supreme and paramount importance”? One answer he gives is that it glorifies God. After telling about one of his wife's illnesses when he almost lost her, he says, “I have . . . stated this case so fully, to show the deep importance to be satisfied with the will of God, not only for the sake of glorifying Him, but as the best way, in the end, of having given to us the desire of our hearts.”68 Being satisfied in God is “of supreme and paramount importance” because it glorifies God. It shows that God is gloriously satisfying. But there is another answer: namely, that happiness in God is the only source of durable and God-honoring self-denial and sacrifice and love. In reference to life-style changes and simplicity he says: We should begin the thing in a right way, i.e. aim after the right state of heart; begin inwardly instead of outwardly. If otherwise, it will not last. We shall look back, or even get into a worse state than we were before. But oh! how different if joy in God leads us to any little act of self denial. How gladly do we do it then!69 “Glad self-denial” is the aroma of Mueller's Calvinism. How can there be such a thing? He answers: “Self-denial is not so much an impoverishment as a postponement: we make a sacrifice of a present good for the sake of a future and greater good.”70 Therefore, happiness in God is of “supreme importance” because it is the key to love that sacrifices and takes risks. “Whatever be done . . . in the way of giving up, or self-denial, or deadness to the world, should result from the joy we have in God.”71 A well-to-do woman visited him once to discuss a possible gift to the Institute. He did not ask her for the money. But when she was gone he asked God for it. And the way he did reveals his understanding of how the heart human works. After she was gone, I asked the Lord, that He would be pleased to make this dear sister so happy in Himself and enable her so to realize her true riches and inheritance in the Lord Jesus, and the reality of her heavenly calling, that she might be constrained by the love of Christ, cheerfully to lay down this 500 [pounds] at His feet.72 How Do We Get and Keep Our Happiness in God? If happiness in God is “of supreme and paramount importance” because it is the spring of sacrificial love that honors God, then the crucial question becomes how do we get it and keep it? But in what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul? How shall we learn to enjoy God? How obtain such an all-sufficient soul-satisfying portion in him as shall enable us to let go the things of this world as vain and worthless in comparison? I answer, This happiness is to be obtained through the study of the Holy Scriptures. God has therein revealed Himself unto us in the face of Jesus Christ.73 Happiness in God comes from seeing God revealed to us in the face of Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. “In them . . . we become acquainted with the character of God. Our eyes are divinely opened to see what a lovely Being God is! And this good, gracious, loving, heavenly Father is ours, our portion for time and for eternity.”74 Knowing God is the key to being happy in God. The more we know of God, the happier we are. . . . When we became a little acquainted with God . . . our true happiness . . . commenced; and the more we become acquainted with him, the more truly happy we become. What will make us so exceedingly happy in heaven? It will be the fuller knowledge of God.75 Therefore the most crucial means of fighting for joy in God is to immerse oneself in the Scriptures where we see God in Christ most clearly. When he was 71 years old, Mueller spoke to younger believers: Now in brotherly love and affection I would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as to the way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. It is absolutely needful in order that happiness in the Lord may continue, that the Scriptures be regularly read. These are God's appointed means for the nourishment of the inner man. . . .Consider it, and ponder over it. . . . Especially we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively, and not pick out here and there a chapter. If we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. I tell you so affectionately. For the first four years after my conversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But when I regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more.76 He was seventy-one and he would live and read on for another twenty-one years. But he never changed his strategy for satisfaction in God. When he was seventy-six he wrote the same thing he did when he was sixty, “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.”77 And the means stayed the same: I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditation on it. . . . What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and . . . not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.78 Which brings us back now the satisfaction of Mueller's soul at the death of his wife, Mary. Remember, he said, “My heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at his word, believing what he says.” 79 The aim of George Mueller's life was to glorify God by helping people take God at his word.80 To that end he saturated his soul with the word of God. At one point he said that he reads the Bible five or ten times more than he reads any other books.81 His aim was to see God in Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead in order that he might maintain the happiness of his soul in God. By this deep satisfaction in God George Mueller was set free from the fears and lusts of the world. And in this freedom of love he chose a strategy of ministry and style of life that put the reality and trustworthiness and beauty of God on display. To use his own words, his life became a “visible proof to the unchangeable faithfulness of the Lord.”82 He was sustained in this extraordinary life by his deep convictions that God is sovereign over the human heart and can turn it where he wills in answer to prayer; and that God is sovereign over life and death; and that God is good in his sovereignty and withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. He strengthened himself continually in his wife's final illness with the hymn: Best of blessings he'll provide us Nought but good shall e'er betide us, Safe to glory He will guide us, Oh how He loves!83 An Exhortation and Plea from Mueller I will let him have the closing word of exhortation and plea for us to join him in the path of radical, joyful faith: My dear Christian reader, will you not try this way? Will you not know for yourself . . . the preciousness and the happiness of this way of casting all your cares and burdens and necessities upon God? This way is as open to you as to me. . . . Every one is invited and commanded to trust in the Lord, to trust in Him with all his heart, and to cast his burden upon Him, and to call upon Him in the day of trouble. Will you not do this, my dear brethren in Christ? I long that you may do so. I desire that you may taste the sweetness of that state of heart, in which, while surrounded by difficulties and necessities, you can yet be at peace, because you know that the living God, your Father in heaven, cares for you.84 Timeline of George Mueller's Life \|1805–1825\|\|Birth to conversion\| \|1825–1835\|\|Conversion to entrance on his life work\| \|1835–1875\|\|His chief life's work\| \|1875–1892\|\|Time of his “missionary tours”\| \|1892–1898\|\|Close of his life\| \|September 27, 1805\|\|Born in Kroppenstaedt near Halberstadt, Prussia.\| \|1819\|\|Death of mother when he was 14\| \|1821\|\|Short imprisonment for theft at age 16\| \|1827\|\|Student at the University of Halle in divinity\| \|November 1825\|\|The Bible study that turned his life to Christ\| \|August 27, 1826\|\|First sermon\| \|August-September 1826\|\|Two months in A. H. Franke's Orphan House\| \|June 13, 1828\|\|Accepted provisionally by London Missionary Society\| \|March 19, 1829\|\|Arrived in London to study with LMS\| \|August 1829\|\|Stay in Teignmouth where he learned of the doctrines of grace\| \|January, 1830\|\|His connection with the LMS was dissolved\| \|1830-1832\|\|The stated preacher at Ebenezer Chapel, Teignmouth\| \|1830\|\|Baptized by immersion\| \|October 7, 1830\|\|Married to Mary Groves\| \|October, 1830\|\|Gave up salary at his church and for the rest of his life.\| \|August 9, 1831\|\|A stillborn child.\| \|May, 1832\|\|Left Teignmouth to take up ministry in Bristol\| \|July 6, 1832\|\|Began preaching at Bethesda Chapel with Henry Craik in Bristol\| \|September 17, 1832\|\|Daughter Lydia is born\| \|February 20, 1834\|\|Founded Scripture Knowledge Institute\| \|March 19, 1834\|\|Son Elijah born\| \|June 26, 1835\|\|Son Elijah died\| \|November 28, 1836\|\|First infant orphan house opened\| \|June 13, 1838\|\|Second stillborn child\| \|October 7, 1838\|\|His only brother died\| \|March 30, 1840\|\|Father died\| \|January 22, 1866\|\|Henry Craik died\| \|February 6, 1870\|\|Wife Mary died\| \|November 16, 1871\|\|James Wright (Mueller's eventual successor) married Mueller's daughter\| \|November 30, 1871\|\|Mueller himself married Susannah Grace Sangar\| \|1890\|\|death of daughter Lydia in her 58th year\| \|January 13, 1895\|\|His second wife died. At 90 he conducts her service\| \|March 10, 1898 (Thursday)\|\|George Mueller died, having led prayer meeting night before\| \|March 14, 1898 (Monday)\|\|Mueller buried with his wives\| A Note on Sources I am not aware of any scholarly biography that puts Mueller in the context of his religious and social context with careful, documented attention to his own writings. A. T. Pierson's George Mueller of Bristol: His Life of Prayer and Faith (1889; reprint, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1999), was written by one who knew and admired Mueller and was endorsed by Mueller's son-in-law, James Wright. I think Pierson's assessment of Mueller's personality is perceptive, but neither here nor in the other popular biographies that I am aware of will the reader meet a deep and accurate portrayal of Mueller's doctrine which powerfully governed his life. Therefore, any serious study of Mueller will want to put most effort into the newly republished George Mueller, A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealing with George Muller, Written by Himself, Jehovah Magnified. Addresses by George Muller Complete and Unabridged, 2 vols. (Muskegon, Mich.: Dust and Ashes Publications, 2003). Remarkably, this two volume work can be read or downloaded for free online. A shorter access to Mueller's life and writings is also newly republished: George Mueller, Autobiography of George Mueller, or A Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer, compiled by G. Fred Bergin (Denton, Tex.: Westminster Literature Resources, 2003). 1 George Mueller, A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealing with George Muller, Written by Himself, Jehovah Magnified. Addresses by George Muller Complete and Unabridged, 2 vols. (Muskegon, Mich.: Dust and Ashes, 2003), 1:646. 2 Ibid., 2:675. 3 Arthur T. Pierson, George Mueller of Bristol and His Witness to A Prayer-Hearing God (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1999), 248. Originally published as “Authorized Memoir” (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1899). 4 Pierson, George Mueller, 354. 5 Mueller, Narrative, 1:41. 6 Ibid., 1:39-40. 7 Ibid., 1:53. 8 Ibid., 1:191 9 Ibid., 1:140. 10 Pierson, George Mueller, 13. 11 Ibid., 264. 12 Mueller, Narrative, 1:80. 13 “Are you in debt? Then make confession of sin respecting it. Sincerely confess to the Lord that you have sinned against Rom. xiii. 8. And if you are resolved no more to contract debt, whatever may be the result, and you are waiting on the Lord, and truly trust in Him, your present debts will soon be paid. Are you out of debt? then whatever your future want may be, be resolved, in the strength of Jesus, rather to suffer the greatest privation, whilst waiting upon God for help, than to use unscriptural means, such as borrowing, taking goods on credit, etc., to deliver yourselves. This way needs but to be tried, in order that its excellency may be enjoyed.” Mueller, Narrative, 1:251. 14 Ibid., 1:80-81. 15 Ibid., 2:365-375. 16 In his own words here is a summary of accomplishments up to May, 1868: “Above Sixteen Thousand Five Hundred children or grown up persons were taught in the various Schools, entirely supported by the Institution; more than Forty-Four Thousand and Five Hundred Copies of the Bible, and above Forty Thousand and Six Hundred New Testaments, and above Twenty Thousand other smaller portions of the Holy Scriptures, in various languages, were circulated from the formation of the Institution up to May 26, 1868; and about Thirty-one Millions of Tracts and Books, likewise in several languages, were circulated. There were, likewise, from the commencement, Missionaries assisted by the funds of the Institution, and of late years more than One Hundred and Twenty in number. On this Object alone Seventy six Thousand One Hundred and Thirty-seven Pounds were expended from the beginning, up to May 26, 1868. Also 2,412 Orphans were under our care, and five large houses, at an expense of above One Hundred and Ten Thousand Pounds were erected, for the accommodation of 2,050 Orphans. With regard to the spiritual results, eternity alone can unfold them; yet even in so far as we have already seen fruit, we have abundant cause for praise and thanksgiving.” Mueller, Narrative, 2:314. 17 Pierson, George Mueller, 274. 19 Ibid., 305. 20 George Mueller, Autobiography of George Mueller, or A Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer, compiled by G. Fred Bergin (Denton, Tex.: Westminster Literature Resources, 2003), ix. 21 Pierson, George Mueller, 305. 22 Ibid., 257. 23 Ibid., 283. 24 Ibid., 285. 25 Ibid., 285-286. 26 Ibid., 286. 27 Ibid., 287. By his own testimony he had read the Bible 100 times by the time he was 71. Mueller, Narrative, 2:834. 28 One estimate is that Mueller collected about $150 million in today's currency. Thanks to Coty Pinckney for the reference and calculations, using John J. McCusker, “Comparing the Purchasing Power of Money in Great Britain from 1264 to Any Other Year Including the Present,” Economic History Services, 2001 (http://www.eh.net/hmit/ppowerbp/). 29 “In looking back upon the Thirty One years, during which this Institution had been in operation, I had, as will be seen, by the Grace of God, kept to the original principles, on which, for His honour, it was established on March 5, 1834. For 1, during the whole of this time I had avoided going in debt; and never had a period been brought to a close, but I had some money in hand. Great as my trials of faith might have been, I never contracted debt; for I judged, that, if God's time was come for any enlargement, He would also give the means, and that, until He supplied them, I had quietly to wait His time, and not to act before His time was fully come. Mueller, Narrative, 2:291. On his view of debt, see also 1:25, 62, 83, 169, 172, 213, 251, 259, 316-317, 403. 30 Mueller, Narrative, 2:389-401. 31 Pierson, George Mueller, 279. 32 Mueller, Narrative, 2:392-393. 33 Ibid., 2:398. 34 Ibid., 2:400. 35 Ibid., 2:745. In the actual funeral sermon itself Mueller took as a text Psalm 119:68, “Thou art good and doest good.” He opened it like this: “‘The Lord is good, and doeth good,' all will be according to His own blessed character. Nothing but that, which is good, like Himself, can proceed from Him. If he pleases to take my dearest wife, it will be good, like Himself. What I have to do, as His child, is to be satisfied with what my Father does, that I may glorify Him. After this my soul not only aimed, but this, my soul, by God's grace, attained to. I was satisfied with God.” Ibid., 2:398-399. 36 Ibid., 1:302. 37 Ibid., 1:103. 38 Ibid., 1:105. 39 Ibid. Italics added. The capital letters are his. 40 Ibid., 1:131, 250, 285, 317, 443, 486, 548, 558, etc. 41 “All believers are called upon, in the simple confidence of faith, to cast all their burdens upon Him, to trust in him for every thing, and not only to make every thing a subject of prayer, but to expect answers to their petitions which they have asked according to His will, and in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Ibid., 1:302. 42 Ibid., 1:65. 44 Ibid., 1:10. 46 Ibid., 1:16. 47 Ibid., 1:17. 48 Ibid., 1:16. 49 Ibid., 1:17. 50 “For when it pleased the Lord in August, 1829, to bring me really to the Scriptures, my life and walk became very different.” Ibid., 1:28-29. 51 “Between July, 1829, and January, 1830, I had seen the leading truths connected with the second coming of our Lord Jesus; I had apprehended the all-sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as our rule, and the Holy Spirit as or teacher; I had seen clearly the precious doctrines of the grace of God, about which I had been uninstructed for nearly four years after my conversion.” Ibid., 2:720. 52 Ibid., 1:39. 53 Ibid., 1:46. “Thus, I say, the electing love of God in Christ (when I have been able to realize it) has often been the means of producing holiness, instead of leading me into sin.” Ibid., 1:40. 54 “Being made willing to have no glory of my own in the conversion of sinners, but to consider myself merely as an instrument; and being made willing to receive what the Scriptures said; I went to the Word, reading the New Testament from the beginning, with a particular reference to these truths. To my great astonishment I found that the passages which speak decidedly for election and persevering grace, were about four times as many as those which speak apparently against these truths; and even those few, shortly after, when I had examined and understood them, served to confirm me in the above doctrines. As to the effect which my belief in these doctrines had on me, I am constrained to state, for God's glory, that though I am still exceedingly weak, and by no means so dead to the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, as I might and as I ought to be, yet, by the grace of God, I have walked more closely with Him since that period. My life has not been so variable, and I may say that I have lived much more for God than before.” Ibid., 1:46. “Thus, I say, the electing love of God in Christ (when I have been able to realize it) has often been the means of producing holiness, instead of leading me into sin.” Ibid., 1:40. 55 Ibid., 1:752. 56 “Upon our first coming to Bristol we declined accepting anything in the shape of regular salary. . . . We did not act thus because we thought it wrong that those who were ministered unto in spiritual things should minister unto us in temporal things; but 1. because we would not have the liberality of the brethren to be a matter of constraint, but willingly.” Ibid., 1:275. 57 The gifts have been given to me “without one single individual having been asked by me for any thing. The reason why I have refrained altogether from soliciting any one for help is, that the hand of God evidently might be seen in the matter, that thus my fellow-believers might be encouraged more and more to trust in Him, and that also those who know not the Lord, may have a fresh proof that, indeed, it is not a vain thing to pray to God.” Ibid., 1:132. 58 Mueller walked a narrow line: On the one hand, he wanted to give God all the credit for answering prayer for meeting all this needs, and so he did not ask people directly for help. But on the other hand he wanted this work of God to be known so that Christians would be encouraged to trust God for answered prayer. But in the very publication of the work of God he was making known how much he depended on the generosity of God's people, and thus motivating them by human means to give. 59 “I do not mean to say that God does not use the Reports as instruments in procuring us means. They are written in order that I may thus give an account of my stewardship, but particularly, in order that, by these printed accounts of the work, the chief end of this Institution may be answered, which is to raise another public testimony to an unbelieving world, that in these last days the Living God is still the Living God, listening to the prayers of His children, and helping those who put their trust in Him; and in order that believers generally may be benefited and especially be encouraged to trust in God for everything they may need, and be stirred up to deal in greater simplicity with God respecting everything connected with their own particular position and circumstances; in short, that the children of God maybe brought to the practical use of the Holy Scriptures, as the word of the Living God. — But while these are the primary reasons for publishing these Reports, we doubt not that the Lord has again and again used them as instruments in leading persons to help us with their means.” Ibid., 1:662. 60 Ibid., 1:611. “This is one of the great secrets in connexion with successful service for the Lord; to work as if everything depended upon our diligence, and yet not to rest in the least upon our exertions, but upon the blessing of the Lord.” Ibid., 2:290. “Speak also for the Lord, as if everything depended on your exertions; yet trust not in the least in your exertions, but in the Lord, who alone can cause your efforts to be made effectual.” Ibid., 2:279. 61 Ibid., 1:594. 62 “There is scarcely a country, from whence I have not received donations; yet all come unsolicited, often anonymously, and in by far the greater number of cases from entire strangers, who are led by God, in answer to our prayers, to help on this work which was commenced, and is carried on, only in dependence on the Living God, in whose hands are the hearts of all men.” Ibid., 2:387. “Our Heavenly Father has the hearts of all men at His disposal, and we give ourselves to prayer to Him, and He, in answer to our prayers, lays the necessities of this work on the hearts of his stewards.” Ibid., 2:498. “We should not trust in the Reports, and expect that they would bring in something, but trust in the Living God, who has the hearts of all in His hands, and to whom all the gold and silver belongs.” Ibid., 2:80. 63 “Remember also, that God delights to bestow blessing, but, generally, as the result of earnest, believing prayer.” Ibid., 2:279. 64 Ibid., 1:61. 65 Ibid., 2:401. 66 Ibid., 1:505. 67 Ibid., 2:730-731. “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.” Ibid., 1:271. 68 Ibid., 2:406. 69 Ibid., 1:355. 70 Pierson, George Mueller, 374. 71 Mueller, Narrative, 1:355. 72 Ibid., 1:326. 73 Ibid., 2:731. 75 Ibid., 2:740. 76 Ibid., 2:834. 77 Ibid., 1:271. 78 Ibid., 1:272-273. 79 Ibid., 2:745. 80 “I have not served a hard Master, and that is what I delight to show. For, to speak well of His name, that thus my beloved fellow-pilgrims, who may read this, may be encouraged to trust in Him, is the chief purpose of my writing.” Ibid., 1:63. 81 Ibid., 1:101. 82 Ibid., 1:105. 83 Ibid., 2:399. 84 Ibid., 1:521. © 2015 Desiring God Foundation. Distribution Guidelines Share the Joy! You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in physical form, in its entirety or in unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. For posting online, please use only unaltered excerpts (not the content in its entirety) and provide a hyperlink to this page. For videos, please embed from the original source. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. ©2015 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
Colorado ranchers like Leonard Ball and Robert Hill have had federal grazing permits in their families for 75 years or more, and while working with the agency that oversees that land isn’t easy, they say it’s a necessity when it comes to their operations. The relationship between grazing permit holders and the federal government was thrust into the national spotlight in April when Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy — who refuses to recognize federal authority on state land, and who stopped paying grazing fees 20 years ago — stood with an armed militia to thwart a Bureau of Land Management roundup of his cattle, which were on government permit land after his permit had been revoked. The BLM says Bundy owes $1 million in grazing fees and penalties for trespassing, according to Associated Press reports. Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, called Bundy “an outlier,” saying that he’s not representative of how most ranchers feel, and he’s certainly not an example of how most ranchers would conduct themselves. Still, Fankhauser said many ranchers view their federal permits as a necessary burden: they struggle to work under tight federal restrictions, but they’d have a difficult time operating without them. “It’s a cumbersome process,” Fankhauser said. “That being said, (federal grasslands) are integrally valuable to these ranching operations. You have to have access to those federal lands to stay in business.” Ray Peterson’s permit to graze cattle on a portion of the Pawnee National Grasslands has been in his family since 1937. He said his permit, which is displayed in a frame on his ranch, is one of the original ones issued by the Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative. If it weren’t for those federal lands, Peterson said he’d have to downsize considerably. “That literally doubles our capacity for cow herd numbers,” Peterson said. In Weld County, Colo., the U.S. Forest Service doles out permits for just more than 190,000 acres of grazing land in the Pawnee National Grasslands on which ranchers graze roughly 8,000 cattle each year. Most of the roughly 100 permit holders are members of one of two grazing associations, the Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative or the Pawnee Livestock Cooperative Association, each of which have permits for roughly half of that acreage. Other federal agencies have little land within the county’s borders. The Bureau of Land Management, for example, manages about 78 acres. Per federal statute, the going rate for grazing on federal lands is $1.35 per Animal Unit Month, or AUM. The permit holder pays the fee for the amount of forage each cow or each cow-calf pair would consume each month. On federal land, the permit holder is also responsible for any improvements on the land, including fences, windmills and water systems. The permit holder foots the bill for those improvements, but does not technically own them. Hill, one of five board directors for the Pawnee cooperative, said his association pays the $1.35 per AUM and pays for all improvements. The organization disseminates the permits to its 43 members, who each pay $7 per AUM. Members are required to help with some maintenance, like mending fences or repairing shallow pipelines, but the organization still pays for materials and bigger repairs. “A private individual wouldn’t be able to do that all on his own, much of the time,” Hill said. Ball, president of the Crow Valley association, said his organization is similar, but member dues include fees for hired help to repair any damage, so members aren’t responsible for fixing improvements. Both said the biggest issues their organizations faces on the grassland come from sharing it with members of the public. So far this year, Hill said shooters have destroyed a windmill and a water tank. Overall maintenance and repairs cost the association about $100,000 per year, Hill said. Ball said members have lost cattle to shooters, some by accident and some purposefully shot. He said his organization has asked the Forest Service to shut down access road in hopes of preventing some of the damage and cattle loss, but the agency hasn’t yet allowed that. Another issue ranchers face on federal lands is the agency’s ability to dictate how many head of cattle are allowed each year and how long they can stay out. Hill said ranchers would like to keep their cattle out to pasture for as many as five months, beginning in May, but in recent drought years, they’ve been allowed on grasslands for only 2 1/2 to three months. Ranchers are also subject to requirements due to endangered species that inhabit the grasslands. Ball, whose family farm is 100 years old this year, said $1.35 AUM seems like a dream price on the surface, but because permit holders cover maintenance costs without gaining any individual value from improvements, the costs in reality are much higher. “We pay dearly to graze on that land that’s right next to us,” Ball said. “It’s for convenience, but we pay our fair share.” State trust land Ball, like many others, also pays for permission to graze cattle on state trust land, but that system is an entirely different animal, in many ways. When Colorado earned statehood in 1876, the federal government designated that every 16th and 32nd section of each township would be entrusted to the state, and revenue generated off those parcels would go toward K-12 education. “When the old timers talk about school sections, it wasn’t because they built a school on it; it was because it’s in the school trust,” said Matthew Pollart, district manager for the Colorado State Land Board. Pollart’s agency doles out leases for purposes like grazing and hunting on the surface of the ground and for purposes like oil and gas exploration below the surface. Ranchers like Ball lease the land on which their cattle run, and they own any improvements they make. Pollart said the state will sometimes help lessees pay for improvements, so the state will own part or all of something like a water system or a fence. While federal grazing permits normally only change hands through real estate transactions, state trust leases come up for bid every 10 years. In many cases, those leases have been in families for generations, but Pollart said his office is seeing more people bidding on land that’s up for grabs. When considering competing bids, Pollart’s office gives preference to an existing leaseholder, if that person agrees to at least match the competing bid and if that person has been a responsible land owner. Pollart said the state considers three main things when someone applies to lease state trust land: stewardship, revenue and the applicant’s stability in the local agricultural industry. “We require sound stewardship so that we have these trust land contributing to the school trust for many generations to come,” Pollart said. If a person wins out over an existing leaseholder, the new owner must reimburse the former owner for improvements on the property. Pollart said if the two can’t come to an agreement on the worth of those improvements, he’ll do an audit or he’ll have an outside agency conduct an audit. Pollart explained that in order to set the state’s AUM rate, researchers conduct a survey of grazing rates on private lands. The state’s rate is set at 72 percent of that price, a discounted rate to account for the fact that the leaseholder will be responsible for improvements on that ground, he said. William Woolston, district resource specialist for the office, said the land board is keeping a closer eye on how leaseholders are taking care of the land. But just as his family did with their state trust land, most ranchers treat their leased land as if it were their own, he said. “We hope they look at it as something they should take care of because of the way we approach them,” Woolston said. Pollart said when drought or overgrazing threaten the wellbeing of the land, his office can tell leaseholders to back off on the number of head the graze. He said in recent years and currently in the southeastern part of the state, the land board will offer to discount their annual grazing fee. For example, if a rancher is asked to cut his grazing herd in half, his grazing fee would be cut to match that. For the most part, Pollart said state lessees are understanding in those situations. “We share an interest there,” he said. “We’re partners.” Ball said historically, his family has seen the system between the federal government and ranchers with grazing permits work in a practical and amicable way. But as the Forest Service is dealing with more and more groups who stake a claim to one purpose or another in the grasslands, those competing interests are making it increasingly difficult to work with the agency on grazing. “If I had my 10,000 acres up there that I graze on come up for sale for market price tomorrow, I’d buy it, and I wouldn’t deal with the Forest Service,” he said. Fankhauser said you’d likely hear the same sentiment from any rancher who has a federal grazing permit, but they also understand that land is part of their livelihood. “I think every one of them would tell you they would prefer not to utilize federal land because of the cost and the time associated with it,” he said. Reghan Cloudman, spokeswoman for the Forest Service, said her agency meets monthly with the boards of each grazing association in an effort to work through any concerns. She said issues like shortened grazing seasons often strike a bad chord, but the associations have been willing to work through competing interests. She added that agency relies on ranchers for a great deal of information on grassland conditions. “We’re obviously going to have those conflicts at times, but ranching is an important part of the heritage of the grasslands,” she said. “Those associations have been around since the ‘30s and ‘40s, and they have a lot of knowledge.” At the state level, Pollart said the challenge is making sure lessees who share the same ground for different purposes can both still operate efficiently. When oil and gas companies hold mineral right leases below and a rancher has an agricultural lease above ground, his office works with both parties to ensure they can coexist. “We take on the challenge of making those compatible,” he said. “In almost every case, we find a way to make that mineral and ag lessee work together.” Peterson said he recognizes there are inherently some disagreements between ranchers and the government on grazing issues, but they don’t rise to the level of what happened with Bundy. “As far as I’m concerned, it works wonderfully,” he said. “We have our disagreements of course with the forest service, but they have a lot of masters who are not quite in tune with what we’re doing running cattle.” (Information in this story has been corrected.)
Get Deadliest Cast MemberSEASON ONE at a discounted price! JOIN THE ADVENTURE Check out the Bucket List and get great ideas for fun things to do at Disneyland! Get MouseWait Florida for WDW for iPhone and Android Use the MouseWait ToDo List to see your favorite attractions, restaurants, and shows on the same page. You can also drag and drop them to put them in any order you want! MAGIC MORNING Disneyland Park: Guests with a 3+ day ticket can choose ONE day for early entry Tues, Thu, or Sat. EXTRA MAGIC HOURS for Resort Hotel Guests: Disneyland Park, Tue, Thu, Sat. California Adventure (including Cars Land) Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun. Radiator Springs Racers is open during early entry, but Fastpasses are not available during this time. More info here. Check out our new unFORECAST here and get the scoop on crowd forecasts, events, and more! Play multi-player Disneyland Trivia while you wait in line! Get the MouseWait TRIVILATOR app for FREE today! GOAT EFFECT is here! Check out our new FREE game and see if you can #SaveTheGoat. Download from the App Store here. Use MagicSearch to quickly find Attractions, Showtimes, Food, and other exclusive info! Search for individual menu items like Burger, Hot Dog, Pickle, Pellegrino, Monster Energy, Gluten Free Pasta, and more! MouseWait 7 is here! Brand new design with MagicSearch technology. Please remember to update your review, thanks! The HoJo Anaheim is the official hotel of MouseWait! Mention us when you book your room and get a discount Thank you to everyone who submitted their MouseWait Story! To watch them go here 🔴⚪️🔵 🇺🇸 One of my favorite memories from today. 😍 You can see by the body language how hesitant Hunter was to meet Captain America. After a few moments of conversation though, he helped him out with his "uniform" and vo More... When I found out I shared a birthday with Mickey & Minnie I was pretty excited to say the least. I was looking through a calendar my Mom had bought to see what day of the week my birthday fell on, you know, what kids do, lol, and low and behold, there it was.. “Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse”! I was beyond excited. I’ve always loved everything Disney and have been lucky enough to celebrate a few birthdays at the parks as an adult, including my 40th (my profile pic), when Disneyland was having a big 80th celebration for the cute couple. It was awesome! And wearing that birthday button on that day, I sure felt special. Thank you Walt and ..Mickey & Minnie! - DisneylandOrBust 396.0 #0 11-18-14 11:39AMLike(2)Reply The first time my brother and I saw the Chicken of the Sea Ship we thought it was a ride we were so excited. We went rushing toward it and went inside only to find out it was a restaurant. The addition of Skull Rock made for excellent pictures. When they Built Peter Pan Pool at the Disneyland Hotel, I was so happy to see the past come to the present. - Midasgold 605.2 #297 8-29-13 9:52AMLike(1)Reply I clearly remember seeing the ship and thinking "tuna? bleeeech 😝😷". It just didn't sound appetizing at all!!! I also remember Skull Rock Lagoon and still miss it today. Thanks for the waltz down memory lane. 💃 - DisneyGrandma 836.5 #193 8-29-13 9:56AMLike(1)Reply Good morning! This day in Disney history, March 28th, 1929. The Mickey Mouse short, "The Opry House" directed by Walt Disney, is released. Mickey owns & performs @ his own theatre, going in drag as a harem girl, in a derby as a Hasidic More... I personalty don't like how relaxed Disney has become with the grooming of its Cast and that goes along with the costuming as well. Back in the 90s when I was there they use to send people home for their hair not being neat or side burns being to long, to much makeup, wrong color socks, the list goes on and on. I obviously have nothing against facial hair as I have it myself but think that they need to do a better job and making sure its cast is presentable on stage - Dave 12340.0 #2 3-28-13 1:03PMLike(15)Reply I remember as a castmember between 1987 to 1990, if you arrived "scruffy" before going on-stage, there were razors and shaving cream for sell in vending machines right next to cast-cutters (castmember barber shop). - BombFrogFormerCM 818.4 #197 3-28-13 6:53AMLike(2)Reply For anyone that wants a really unique dining experience you've got to try the Chef's Counter at Napa Rose. The Chef's Counter gives you great food and a truly entertaining evening. You put your dining choices in the hands of your chef. Yo More... Just wanted to add that you're more then welcome to ask questions from any of the Chef's about about what and how they are preparing dishes. When we got there we saw them preparing beef tenderloins and racks of lamb. Admin was amazed at how they could tell doneness by look and feel, no thermometers are used here. The other great thing about sitting at the right station is that you also right in front of where all the yummy desserts are prepared and the freezer with all the sorbets and ice cream. - Coaster 15215.6 #1 3-27-13 3:29PMLike(4)Reply Great post Coaster! Thanks for treating us to this incredible experience -- the food was unreal, I tried things that I'd never had before, everything was layered with out-of-this-world flavor, and seeing them run the kitchen was like watching a Food Network show. The best part was getting to hang out with you and Lori. THANK YOU! - Admin 3-28-13 9:46AMLike(4)Reply Good morning! This day in Disney history, March 7th,1997. Pirates of the Caribbean reopens after being renovated. In its original form, the Disneyland attraction contained a scene in which pirates were shown chasing women in circles. Al More... My mom's favorite ride! She never saw the addition of Captain Jack but she did see the change that Lilsterner mentioned....and was not happy! Every time I ride POTC my thoughts turn to how much fun she had on it...the drops were as close to a thrill ride that she ever wanted to go on. I have to admit I usually get misty eyed riding it as I pretend she is sitting next to me. - Gia 802.0 #202 3-7-13 10:02AMLike(16)Reply I miss the original scene with the women being chased. That was more realistic! When the change was made to chasing food I was surprised at the addition of the overweight woman chasing the ham. I thought it was funny that there was a change to be PC in one aspect but just became as stereotypical in another one. I miss the funny historical aspect of the original but I don't mind the addition of Jack, Barbosa, and Davey Jones. - LilSterner 4773.2 #20 3-7-13 9:22AMLike(4)Reply The original just captured the "pirate life" it was a classic. It's sad how people let a ride offend them instead of enjoying it for what it was made for "fun" - justinschu4 36.0 #5048 3-7-13 9:47AMLikeReply I will never understand the fascination with pirates in general. People do understand what a pirate is right? Murderer and thief and many other unmentionables. I mean why is it ok to have women tied up and auctioned off to the highest bidder but people thought those other things were offensive? - dolewhipkarlita 77.9 #3782 3-7-13 3:05PMLikeReply Good morning! This day in Disney history, March 3rd, 1995. The Indiana Jones Adventure, Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction officially opens in Disneyland's Adventureland. (Official attraction poster shown below). In attendance for the More... I got to ride this a week before the official opening at an overnight event (didn't know about soft openings or previews then so we thought we were pretty special). I was one of the first in line that night and we were escorted down Main St to the queue. My group rode the ride and loved it. As we were coming back to the loading area someone wasn't paying attention and my Jeep bumped the Jeep that had just finished loading (no joke). Smoke came out of the front of the Jeep I was in. They moved the Jeep out of the way, pulled the one I was in to the loading area and we got out. The ride was down for a bit after that. I remember people were so upset! Quite a memory to have. I can also remember waiting for hours during the summer for that ride and the line started on Main St. At least there was entertainment in the queue once you got into the temple. - LilSterner 4773.2 #20 3-3-13 11:44AMLike(8)Reply Hello , this is one of my favorite rides and yes it does have on of the longest queue lines ever for a Disney attraction. Indy is the only modern attraction that had a line snake all the was to main street other than the original star tours 1.0 this was before fasspasses existed and the wait time would be close to 6-10 hrs.This is a great ride but understand that with a lot of show elements this ride does go down a bit,remember it has a ton of stuff going on but they do a great job restarting it so please understand fellow mwr's. The vehicles are state of the art and a first for disney and the amusement park at the time it came out and the vehicle type is also used in dinosaur at wdw. The rolling ball has an incredible secrect ,but im not ruining it by saying what it is you can find this info on your own and hidden in the line is eyeore sign that everyone knows about and a time life magazine after the safety video room in the caged office and its highlighted with a magnifying glass is a vintage mickey mouse - pikarich 3638.4 #28 3-3-13 9:01AMLike(4)Reply I just saw this now and I could've told guests this while I was in the Indy store this afternoon! Love the attraction and the storytelling behind it (its wayyyy better than WDW's Dinosaur too) - BaseballMickey_CM 6792.4 #9 3-3-13 10:24PMLikeReply Good afternoon! This day in Disney history, March 15th, 1991. Disney Afternoon Avenue, a colorful street of cartoon buildings located between It's a Small World & Videopolis, opens @ Disneyland. Here, you can have your map/passport stampe More... Good afternoon! This day in Disney history, Mar 1st, 1940. During a screening of "Bambi" after seeing the footage for the very 1st time, Walt Disney turned to the two animators, Frank Thomas & Milt Kahl (2 of walts 9 old men) w/tears More... Good morning! This day in Disney history, Feb. 27th, 1941. "When You Wish Upon a Star" - written by Leigh Harline & Ned Washington (pictured below) for the Disney film Pinocchio, is awarded an Oscar for Best Song @ the 13th Academy Award More... You can hear it in the Pioncchio attraction, fireworks soundtrack, the Opera House, under the castle, the esplanade and the Toy Story bus loading area near Harbor blvd - BaseballMickey_CM 6792.4 #9 2-27-13 9:57AMLike(7)Reply One of my favorites. I have it set as my Mom's ringtone, because she's always been my biggest cheerleader. 😊😊 - DisneyFanZoe 1154.8 #130 2-27-13 10:29AMLike(3)Reply i love the classic once apon a star as it represent childhood and innocence to me such a classic tone, my current fav though is Hawaiian roller coaster ride -lilo and stitch cause its a fun melody and always make me cheer - pikarich 3638.4 #28 2-27-13 12:33PMLikeReply "so this is love " gonna be my wedding song....if i ever get there lol - lorelaismom 13.5 #8138 2-27-13 12:44PMLikeReply Good morning! This day in Disney history, March 18th,1967. The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction (my personal favorite) opens in New Orleans Square. The debut kicks off w/great excitement, as a group of surly sea-dogs, led by Wally Boag More... I don't remember my first ride on POTC, although I'm sure it was the year it opened (I was 10). It was my mother's favorite ride. She wouldn't do roller coaster type rides, or spinning, or drop rides. Yet she would giggle and scream during POTC's drops saying it was just perfect for her. The background story wasn't readily available, but my mom was a history teacher and used POTC to teach me about Lafitte, the era, and pirates in general. She knew the song by heart, and would softly sing it throughout the whole ride. Her last visit was in the Fall of 1997, but every time I go on it I can't help but think of her and how much she enjoyed it. It's not my absolute #1 favorite attraction, but it holds the most memories. - Gia 802.0 #202 3-18-13 2:26PMLike(12)Reply My first visit to DL was in 1973. My then boyfriend (now hubs) took me to the park on a very rainy Sat morn. First place we went was Pirates. When we exited it had stopped raining and the sun was shining on ROA. After riding Pirates and seeing this beautiful park shining I was so overcome with emotion I'll never forget it. That was the moment I fell in love with Disneyland. - DisneyGrandma 836.5 #193 3-18-13 9:20AMLike(6)Reply This is my favorite ride, there is many things about it I love. The smell of the water when your in line, boarding the boats and the memories and excitement it brings. Most of all I love looking at the clouds move, over the whole attraction. - jakethecrazy 3.1 #36076 3-18-13 9:42PMLikeReply I taped many programs on the early Disney channel when they aired many of the WOC and other programs showcasing DL early days and have this debut on one of the VHS tapes. - splashphotoCM 885.6 #179 3-18-13 11:40PMLikeReply ✈Condor Flats⛽: (Long, but worth the read!) I've been wanting to share some interesting information about the Condor Flats area of DCA with you all that I LOVED finding out! Hopefully it's new to some, as it was to me! : ) As usual More... #Tip: I've seen several posts about starting a pressed penny collection, and I thought I would offer a little friendly advice since I have some photo examples. First, choose only pre-1982 pennies. These are made of copper and when pres More... Good afternoon! This day in Disney history Feb. 23rd, 1940. "Pinocchio" (based on the 19th century book by Carlo Collodi) Is generally released. Filmed in multiplane technicolor, It has cost a staggering $2.6 million to make. Disney onl More... Such a great classic! I also think that the attraction tells the story well. When he becomes a real boy, he is so darling. - HandMeAChurroImmaFaint 5017.2 #18 2-23-13 1:38PMLike(2)Reply This is absolutely a classic (as Churro rightly stated)! Also might I add that this film received 2 oscars: Best Original Score and Best Original Song for the world famous song, "When You Wish Upon a Star" I always loved this movie from early childhood. I did not know this was considered to be the "most technically perfect film" but I can see why. For its time, the animation is genius.. blending mechanical and human behavior perfectly. Even the animals are drawn with such accuaracy.. .if you watch Figaro, Geppetto's cat, see how soft and gently the movements are and try to remember... this is just a drawing... I bet you can't. My favorite part is when the Blue Fairy comes. I have such a crush on her! Thank you SMK for this all time classic Disney History and for sharing a movie we all love! - IMissDisney 1205.3 #122 2-23-13 3:02PMLike(2)Reply Such a great description of Pinocchio! It would be awesome if they had the Blue Fairy character come out with Pinocchio at Disneyland. - kss4tink 218.0 #1667 2-23-13 3:06PMLikeReply 😳 I'm confused with the date but, this is probably my favorite Disney movie. And my favorite part is when Stromboli finds a washer in his stack of coins, bites it and cusses up a storm (which is not in Italian). Then he gently and politely offers it to Pinocchio and Pinocchio happily accepts it. - philliprocks 1051.6 #153 2-23-13 4:33PMLikeReply Good afternoon! This day in Disney history, Feb. 22nd, 1964. The Below Decks Museum attraction is added to the Sailing Ship Columbia. It shows what life was like for the 1787 crew. In addition to the galley, pantry, dry stores, and sick More... You are so awesome! I know it must be time consuming to find all this great historical facts for us. Yet you do it every day! You, my dear, are such a fabulous part of the MW family!!😘😘 - RCmom 5229.2 #16 2-22-13 4:39PMLike(3)Reply It's a relatively little known gem of the park! I've been on the Sailing Ship Columbia several times and have explored the lower decks. Tons of things to see! Also, it was quite a feat to bring the ship to the park... But that's another History post. Thank you SMK for sharing these treasures of history! - IMissDisney 1205.3 #122 2-22-13 3:01PMLike(2)Reply Good afternoon! This day in Disney history, Feb 20th, 1986. WED, (Walter Elias Disney) Enterprises, becomes "Walt disney Imagineering". WED was 1st created in December 1952 to oversee the design of Disneyland. The term "Imagineering" is More... "Imagineering" is such the quintessential Disney term!! I love that word. Disneyland has so much Imagineering everywhere, from attractions to hidden Mickeys! One of the best examples of this is Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, where the "tiki room birds sing every day!" Over 200 animatronic birds, flowers, and tikis. What an awesome attraction where Imagineers made inventions! Thank you SMK! This is such a huge part of Disney!! You're awesome!!! - IMissDisney 1205.3 #122 2-20-13 1:21PMLike(2)Reply Wow, 140 different job titles! That's amazing, such talented people. Thanks for sharing Duchess! 😊 - MinnieMousewife 848.3 #189 2-20-13 8:01PMLike(1)Reply
Imus proved that there is a dark underside to us that carries these problems from our earlier evolutions, that we can't let go of. It's like saying-"Well that's just the way it is and it's just the way I am." Limiting possibilities is a major problem in our development. The past is just a nostalgic reminder of how easily we were deceived. We look back on these times as honest and truthful because we didn't have all the information to challenge what they programmed us with. Information was fed to the people and never researched for factuality. Thank the universe for the Web and the instant information we have based in facts and statistics. "Opinion" means you don't want to do the required work to develop a critical viewpoint- widen your lens so to speak. Try this site to find some real info. They even have a forum where you could take your opinions and discuss them, if you feel certain about what you say. Personally I'm tired of our ancestors telling us what we have to believe based on opinions. War is an opinion, and I'm tired of that too. Just saying it's fact, negates the possibility that we could rise above it. We have to eliminate impossibilities we've been fed to believe. http://www.radicalmath.org/browse_socia ... p?t=wealth Some of the items to read- 2. Being Black, Living in The Red (external link) Abstract: Being Black, Living in the Red demonstrates that many differences between blacks and whites stem not from race but from economic inequalities that have accumulated over the course of American history. Property ownership--as measured by net worth--reflects this legacy of economic oppression. The racial discrepancy in wealth holdings leads to advantages for whites in the form of better schools, more desirable residences, higher wages, and more opportunities to save, invest, and thereby further their economic advantages. Resource Type: Book 3. Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New perspective on racial inequality (external link) Abstract: The award-winning Black Wealth/White Wealth offers a powerful portrait of racial inequality based on an analysis of private wealth. Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro analyze wealth--total assets and debts rather than income alone--to uncover deep and persistent racial inequality in America, and they show how public policies fail to redress the problem. Compelling and informative, Black Wealth/White Wealth is pioneering research. It is a powerful counterpoint to arguments against affirmative action and a direct challenge to our present social welfare policies. Resource Type: Book 5. Cheaters Monopoly (internal link) Abstract: A satirical article that discusses how the game of Monopoly could be recreated with new rules based on oppression of people of color and Native Americans by white people. Resource Type: Article 7. Data on Income Growth from Government Tax Return Records (internal link) -Abstract: This document contains a dozen different charts that look at income growth in the US over the past century, as well as current income levels and percentiles. It also looks at who (the wealthy) have benefited the most from recent tax cuts. Resource Type: Chart 8. Doubly Divided: The Racial Wealth Gap (external link) Abstract: African Americans and other minorities hold far less wealth than whites. But why should the wealth gap be so large, greater even than the racial income gap? It turns out that government has played a central role. Throughout U.S. history, countless specific laws, policies, rules, and court decisions have made it more difficult for nonwhites to build wealth, and transferred wealth they did own to whites. Resource Type: Article 10. How Class Works: An Interactive Exploration (external link) Abstract: From the NY Times' "Class Matters" section, this interactive, multimedia website is divided into four very user-friendly topics: Components of Class, How Class Breaks Down, Income Mobility, and A Nationwide Poll. Resource Type: Website 18. The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the Racial Wealth Divide (external link) Abstract: Why does the median family of color have less than a dime for every white dollar? The Color of Wealth exposes how people of color have been barred from government wealth-building programs benefiting white Americans. This uniquely multicultural economic history covers the asset-building stories of Native Americans, Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans. Resource Type: Book 19. The Growing Divide: Inequality and the Roots of Economic Insecurity (external link) Abstract: This curriculum is useful to help students understand the growing gaps between people in the US along income lines, examining both the causes and consquences of this problem. Resource Type: Curriculum 23. Ultimate Field Guide to the U.S. Economy: A Compact and Irreverent Guide to Economic Life in America (external link) Resource Type: Book 24. United for a Fair Economy (external link) Abstract: UFE raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. The website contains reports, fact sheets, cartoons, games, and a library on information on economic and racial inequities in our society. Resource Type: Website 25. Washing Away the Veil: Katrina and the Racial Wealth Divide (external link) Abstract: Explores the racial wealth divide that is so prevalant in our country, which isn't new, but was at least brought back into public discourse by Hurricane Katrina. Resource Type: Article Here's some facts from the Katrina article- Long before Katrina, racial wealth/income inequality undermined the quality of lives of African-Americans in Louisiana. For like the rest of the country, Louisiana is plagued by the deepening racial economic divide. In Louisiana, the average income for African-Americans is $21,461, while that of whites is $40,049. While African-Americans comprise 31.5% of the population in Louisiana, 69% of the children in poverty are African-Americans. Additionally, compared to white women, African-American women are twice as likely not to have health care. It is no surprise, then, that the majority of those left behind to face Hurricane Katrina were African-Americans, Mexicans, Hondurans, and other people of color. The class position of these people is intertwined with race. In Louisiana, the state with the second highest rates on inequality in the country, it is clear that race (and class) matters. But if you think that racial economic inequality is peculiar to the south, think again. It is the norm nationwide. By the standard (and limited) measure of income, racial inequality is readily apparent. The typical African-American family makes 59 cents for every dollar earned by the typical white household. The wealth divide is even greater. In 2001, the median household net worth of the typical white family was $121,000, while for the typical African-American family it is $19,000. This means that Blacks have less than 16 cents for every dollar of assets held by a typical white household. In other words, there is a $102, 000 dollars net worth penalty for being Black. Hurricane Katrina made the burden of this penalty immediately accessible. The veil was washed away. The folks of color in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, etc. who had no savings accounts, no insured homes, no other sources of income besides a low paying job, and no health or retirement security suffered from the combined forces of malignant government neglect, systematic corporate plunder, and deeply rooted racial wealth and income inequality. By revealing all of these factors, Hurricane Katrina is forcing the society to grapple with the cost of being poor, a person of color, and/or an immigrant. Critically, Hurricane Katrina rendered particularly visible—the cost of being asset poor and Black. Yet, the mantra—race does not matter—is repeated. Many whites are rejecting race as a factor in inequality and in the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. According to the most recent Pew poll, while 71% of African-Americans think that racial inequality is still an issue, only 32% of whites share those sentiments. And while 66% of African-Americans believed that government response would have been faster if the victims had been white, only 17% of whites agreed. Why is this? One part of the explanation is the widespread belief in the mythology of a colorblind society. Another part of the explanation is the growing economic insecurity faced by most whites. Stuck in the logic of “zero-sum game” thinking (and racist thinking as well), many whites believe that any benefits to other people come at their expense. The unstated belief is that whites are the most important race, and they are entitled to get theirs before people of other races get any. Therefore, they remain resistant to measures to remedy racial wealth inequality. But it need not be a zero-sum game. Most whites are not doing well in this economy. Household income has been decreasing since 2001. Wages have been stagnating. Jobs are harder to find, often pay low wages, and tend to provide minimal benefits. In this “jobless recovery,” Black unemployment rose from 7% in 2001 to 9.6% in August 2005, but white unemployment also rose, from 2.75% to 4.2%. As if economic insecurity was not already too great, the Bush Administration is attempting to privatize social security and increase pension insecurity. They also want to end the estate tax for the benefits of the super-rich at the expense of hard working people. Consequently, whites, like everyone else, are feeling the squeeze of anti-people and pro-corporation economic policies. Finding scapegoats is not the answer. People of color are not the beneficiaries of the growing wealth/income inequality. Along with many white people who have limited incomes and wealth, they are being pushed into greater economic insecurity. In fact, people of other races are even further disadvantaged, since they continue to face barriers to wealth accumulation that compound historical disadvantages, which render them most vulnerable in times of crises. This is one of the crucial lessons that we should take from Hurricane Katrina. There's a lot more to this issue than just name calling. Imus showed that theres an underlying acceptance of right to be mildly racist and bigoted and that is still acceptable. The message gets out and social animators, like him,, and so are usefuland used regularily to stir up foment within the masses. Worked in Germany and it's working in Iraq as well too! Somehow we let people legitimize this dehumanizing as normal without questioning people for why they do it. It's up to whites to correct whites since they don't seem to want to stop it. Blame shiftig is no excuse, and unlike the Indians you can't just kill everyone off and claim their land. You invited them into your country, or took their land from them and expect them to sit back and take it? I'd like to see what any white person would be like if the roles were reversed. Again, this comes from the top down. When I was young and growing up, I knew nothing about race difference or religious difference. I was introduced to it. It was not inherited. It came down from parents or authority figures and was transmitted by peers. It's called a "social construct". Religion, patriarchy, politics, power- all social constructs that evolve and perfect themselves until they make perfect idealized sense. Racism and bigotry have this purpose as well. Human nature is a funny thing- how it operates-andwhere it comes from- it allows us to divide based on difference of appearance and beliefs. Since most things that are subtle and intended come from a place of wealth, I must assume you enjoy protecting the wealth and privilege that whites obviously enjoy. Perhaps you are just another unwitting patsy of their intentions, believing that since it makes sense it must be accurate, but I noticed you apologized for your words on several occasions, yet have no problem feeling someone is getting a free ride. Again, this is a common lament for those who don't want solutions- especially if it means someone gets something for free that they think they have to pay to their disadvantage, while they have all the cards in the deck. Cheaters Monopoly perhaps?. I hope that this information might help you to understand that this problem is much more serious and common- to varying degrees. As historical accounts prove, it is a common trait we have used to divide and not bring us together. That it is the rich mans game and has no place in our world any longer is obvious. Any christian can surely see that.
Hi, I’m Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace To You and I’m in the studio today with John MacArthur to discuss an issue that may be one of the most hotly debated issues in the church today, contemporary worship. In fact, this whole issue is so contentious in some circles that we’ve decided to call this discussion, “Contemporary Worship, Civil War in the Church.” John MacArthur has been pastor and Bible teacher of Grace Community Church in Southern California for more than thirty-eight years. And over the years, Grace Church has seen some significant changes, but it’s also remained remarkably focused and unified and with that in mind, we thought it would be helpful to bring John into the studio and ask him the questions that have been or are on your mind. My guess is, no matter which side of the debate you find yourself on, you’re probably going to be challenged by what John has to say. So, John, welcome. JOHN: Thanks, Phil, and I’m really thrilled to be able to chat with you a little bit about this because I know many, many people are caught in this civil war. Many people are disturbed and distressed about the trends in their churches and the way music is being done. It does need to be looked at from a biblical and a practical standpoint. PHIL: John, I love to have you in the studio like this, to talk about these subjects that are controversial and confusing because I know our listeners like to hear your thoughts on things like this. Listeners write in or call in and want your answer to...what are your thoughts about contemporary worship? What do you think of when you hear that expression, contemporary worship? JOHN: Well I think when people say contemporary worship, they’re probably talking about a certain style, the new kind of music. But we need to get over that. We need to get pass that. Every generation of believers in the history of the church has had music that was consistent with that generation. We’re not singing chants now. We’re not .locked in to minimalist kind of...of hymns with simple 4/4 time as, you know, used to be the staple for the church. Every generation has style changes. And I think to throw away anything just because it’s new is to miss the point all together. Every generation needs to express its worship in ways that it’s familiar with and comfortable with. And so there is going to be a morphing(?) and a changing of certain styles, while hopefully at the same time holding on to the best of the past which, I think, sound Christian worship has done. I mean, you can go to Grace Community Church on Sunday and you’ll hear music written by Keith Getty last year right after you’ve heard something written by Bach centuries ago. JOHN: So I think when we talk about contemporary music, that’s too broad a term. We need to be more careful about what we have in mind before we just throw out everything because some very wonderful expressions of worship are being penned today. PHIL: So you wouldn’t say there’s only one acceptable style of worship. JOHN: No. People ask me, “What style of music do you like?” And I say this, if it’s music I like all kinds of styles. Now there is stuff today called music that I don’t even think is music. But if you’re talking about music, I like all kinds of music. And I can express my worship and my praise and my love to the Lord in all kinds of musical expressions. PHIL: Are there any styles that are not valid for worship? JOHN: I think you have to be very careful with music, musical form that is inseparably linked to the base expressions of the culture. I just don’t think you go there and bring honor to the Lord with that. You say, “Well the words sanctify the music.” I don’t think so. The music is the power in the expression, that’s why it’s musical. And I think you have to be very careful using that which is associated with sex and drugs and the baser things as a vehicle to convey the lofty sacred holy serious realities about God and the glory of Christ. PHIL: But you sound like you’re also saying you can’t really draw a hard line and this is where it ends and this is no longer appropriate. JOHN: I think you have to draw some line short of that music in the society which is used to convey the leading edge of sin and wickedness. You can make an argument that there is opera that is base and immoral, and you’d be right. JOHN: Some of the story line. PHIL: That’s right. JOHN: You can make an argument for love songs that there...there are suggestions and insinuations in old love songs that we’re all familiar with that have sexual overtones and things like that. So are we going to throw out that kind of music also? Ballad type music which we use a lot of in the church today. And Moody, you know, popularized all that during his ministry. So it’s a hard...it’s a hard thing to draw that line. It’s a very fine line to walk, but I think we have to stay back just like any other area of Christian liberty. We stay way back, I think, from the edge of what the culture sees as identified with the worst expressions of its immoral tendencies. PHIL: Now if I hear you right, you seem to be saying that style is not unimportant but what’s far more important is the content when it comes to music. JOHN: Absolutely. First of all, the content is critical and crucial. Music is a way to convey information. It’s a way to do it in a memorable sense so that people hear it, remember it and can repeat it. And we have a responsibility to make sure that what they’re hearing, remembering and repeating is the best and the truest. So content is absolutely critical. That’s where it all begins. You begin with a content and that’s the most important issue. That’s the dominating issue. But even at that point you say, “I can’t expect this great glorious content about God to survive and convey the right...the right truth if it’s wrapped in a vehicle that everybody can’t disconnect from sex and drugs. Now before we get too far away from style, let me ask you a couple of lingering questions here. Are there certain musical instruments that would be off limits for worship? JOHN: I think...I think any musical instrument can be used like any other tool for good or for bad, you know, for the best or less than the best. I don’t know that any musical instrument as such in itself, you know, is inherently wrong or useless. I think you could based upon the Psalms, you know, where we’re told to take every musical instrument just about in existence and use it to praise God, I think anything can be used in that way. PHIL: All right, there are some people who try to address this issue though by saying, “Okay, we’re not going to permit percussion instruments or guitars on our platform.” How... JOHN: Well I was...I was hammered and vilified years ago by some critics who tried to condemn our whole ministry at Grace Church because we had guys playing guitar. By the way, I think the church that criticized us for that now has guitars...so...I mean, that was never a legitimate biblical issue. I...I...I can understand, they were trying to stay away from things that they saw as...as worldly. And that’s why I say that’s a hard line to draw. But certainly the guitar in itself is a magnificent and beautiful, beautiful instrument and it can be played to the glory of God, as it should be played. PHIL: Are different styles more appropriate for one culture than for another? Or is there a biblical approach that ought to be universal? JOHN: No. I think styles do differ from culture to culture to culture. I’ve been in a lot of different cultures around the world but what I’ve noticed whether I was in the Andes mountains with a bunch of Indians listening to them sing their own version of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” with their own primitive instruments and it was absolutely beautiful, or whether I’m in Asia listening to Asians sing or wherever I’ve gone in the world or India listening to any...the common thing I hear when Christians sing is harmony and beauty and symmetry in the music. Even in Russia, and I’ve been there many, many times, for years the church sang in the minor key and the minor key, I think, was the expression of the oppression and the persecution that the church had. But it still had harmony and beauty and in more recent years the church in Russia sings now more in the major key because, you know, life has changed to some degree. So everywhere I’ve gone in the world, I found that Christians gravitate toward harmony and beauty in music, not noise and racket and dissonance. PHIL: Now worship is about lots more than music. That’s a point that’s often lost these days. You...you see a church and they say, “This is our worship leader,” and what he really is is the music guy. JOHN: Yeah, and music is not worship. Worship may include singing in music, the two are not synonymous. Worship is an attitude of the heart. And for me, this is what I want in worship, I want someone to come alongside me and help me lift up my heart in praise. That’s why I go to worship. How is that done? I’ll tell you how it’s done. First of all, it’s done by the writer of the song or the hymn, or a chorus who is saying in a beautiful and a magnificent and memorable way better than I would have said it standing there trying to make it up on my own so...so that he gives me song to sing. That’s what I love about great songs, great hymns. Somebody else helps me to...to lift my praise before the Lord in words that are rich and beautiful and meaningful and better than I could come up with spontaneously on my own. Secondly, I want to worship with all of God’s people. That’s what...it’s such a thrill for me to stand with three thousand people in one service and three thousand more in the second service on Sunday morning at Grace Church and be lifted up in my own worship by the collective praise and the beauty of that. The instruments play, the organ plays, the orchestra plays, all the elements of music come together to enhance my own ability to express what’s in my heart. And I sing at the top of my voice. I...I can’t hold my song back because I’m aided by the congregation, by the musicians, by the writer of the song to give...to give expression to what is literally boiling over in my heart because of my love for the truth. I don’t need somebody to whip me up. I don’t need somebody to say, “Now come on, let’s sing out on the third verse.” I don’t need anybody to motivate me superficially. I don’t even need a certain style to move me. All I need is the words and the people of God and the musical accompaniment and my own heart bubbles over my own heart overflows in worship to God so that the worship is not the music, the worship is simply the expression of these glorious truths for which I am eternally thankful being offered to God from my lips the means of music. PHIL: Now you didn’t say this so I will. In our worship services, the thing that would lift my heart up to the Lord and express my praise in words better than anything most often is the sermon. So would you see the sermon as part of the worship as well? JOHN: Yeah, I think...I would even back up from that. Before we really get into our worship, I pray a prayer, as you know, and it’s really a priestly prayer, it’s a prayer to bring the congregation before the Lord, it’s a prayer for the confession of sin, it’s a prayer for cleansing. It’s a prayer for repentance, admitting my sin, the greatness of God, the glory of Christ, the wonder of the gospel. And I go through all of that pretty much every Sunday in that prayer because I want people in their hearts, first of all, to celebrate the greatness of God and the goodness of God and the grace of God and all of that. And then once we’ve gone before God and opened up our hearts to Him, we come out of that confession, out of that repentance, out of that intercession and we’re ready, our hearts have been lifted up and we’re ready to sing. The sermon then comes to inform the foundation of all worship, and that is the truth. If you’re going to worship in spirit and in truth, you have to know the truth. I think, and there might be some people who disagree with me, but I think the sermon, the truth, is the most important ingredient in worship. JOHN: Because it is that truth about God that makes me want to worship Him. It is His glory revealed in Scripture that makes me want to worship. I...in some ways I wish that the sermon came first and then all the worship came at the end. But I understand that the way we do it, it does culminate. The people have prayed, confessed, they have praised and sung and glorified the Lord and now with their hearts lifted up to Him, it’s time for them to hear Him speak and inform their worship even further with the richness of His truth and ready them for an increased worship. But I don’t think worship ends when the service ends. Hopefully that gets a catalyst for a heart and a life of worship. PHIL: You’re also suggesting that there are two parts to our response in worship, both cerebral and emotional. You’re talking about a response that moves you, that deals with your emotions. But if I hear you right again, you’re...you’re stressing the fact that that response insofar as it’s legitimate is a response to the truth and therefore it’s truth as its filtered through your intellect first and then taken to your emotions. JOHN: And that’s exactly what Jesus says, “The Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.” There are lots of people who get worked up in what they call worship, who...the emotional part. And it’s sort of isolated. It’s just out there on its own. That’s not what the Lord wants. He wants worship in spirit, that is with full expression of the will and the emotion based on an understanding of the truth. PHIL: And raw emotion divorced from any connection to the truth wouldn’t be worship at all. JOHN: No, it’s not worship and it’s a way people get manipulated, this kind of quote/unquote stuff is used to manipulate people’s wills and minds and to get them emotionally irresponsible in some ways. I think the true and pure worship, the worship that is worship is that which is a direct response to with all the powers of our being a direct response to the glory and the wonder of the truth. PHIL: You’re stressing also worship is something we do for God, not something that’s done to attract people so you get a big crowd. JOHN: Yeah, I think there’s a...there’s a couple of things to say at this point. God didn’t design music as an evangelistic tool. That’s just not biblical. If you go back to where you get the first introduction into this which would be the book of Psalms because they’re collected from the whole history of Israel, so this would be part of their whole history, we continually are told in the Psalms that the word “song” is connected with the adjective new...new song, new song, new song. In fact, more than anything new in Psalms is the new song. And it’s the song of the redeemed. The world doesn’t have the song to sing so God’s design for music for believers is to give them the opportunity to express their praise in this wonderful way which just uses all their emotions to express this. So I think we have to understand that music was designed, worship music, as an expression of praise by the saints to sing the new song, the song of redemption, the song of the redeemed, as the Old Testament calls it. It’s never an evangelistic tool in the Old Testament. It’s not an instrument of entertainment, supposed to lure people in. In the New Testament, speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord is clearly an experience of a Spirit-filled person, a believer. This is anything but entertainment. And so the church when you think about music in the church shouldn’t be thinking about what kind of music should we do to make non-believers like us. That’s completely foreign to Scripture. There’s only one question to ask in the church and that is this, what music will be most faithful to the truth of Scripture and bring most joy and exhilaration in praise from the people of God who know that truth and love that truth. That’s the only question to ask. PHIL: All right, back to the issue of style, and now we’re talking about style in a broader context than just musical style. Some people would say because worship is our praise offered to God, it always should be...there should always be a formal element to it. And some would even say worship is best when it is highly formal, even liturgical. Others say no, worship can be totally informal. Whatever makes me comfortable makes me worship best. Where do you fall on that spectrum? JOHN: I don’t think we have a clear-cut confining mandate in Scripture about that. I don’t think the Bible limits us to liturgical high church kind of worship. I think probably the early church was very informal. I don’t think there were any organs in the early church going from house to house. I don’t think there was ever an intention that it would be anything other than speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, make melody to the Lord in your heart. There’s a whole lot of variety in just psalms, hymns, spiritual songs and singing and making melody in your heart to start with before the Lord. So I don’t think there’s any way that we should unnecessarily limit that. I think music can be informal and simple and it can also be lofty and exalted and big. You know, we can have an orchestra or it can come down to a beautiful acappella. Some of the most beautiful music in the world is acappella music and many, many beautiful pieces written in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, acappella pieces are just magnificent pieces of music, harmonies and beautiful music. Very different than huge orchestrations of great music or big organs or things like that. I just don’t think the Bible puts any limits on it. PHIL: That is one of the distinctives of Grace Church, that there...people frequently ask me, “What style of worship do you do at Grace? What style of music?” and all of that. We use a variety of music styles and a variety of different styles of everything. JOHN: But you know what, there’s...there’s sort of a bottom-line principle for me when it comes to worship, and it is this. I don’t want to do any music that is going to offend anybody who is there to worship. And I know this, that if we did on Sunday morning what a lot of churches do, which is nothing but flat-out contemporary kind of edgy loud banging, smashing, clanging music, it would offend a huge portion of our congregation...huge. I’m not willing to do that. And I think that’s part of what we’ve taught so that our church is primarily young people, as you know, we’ve been...we’ve been taking in about 75, 80 new members a month for ten years and 85 percent of them are thirties and under. I talked to one of them the other day who said, “I come because I love the hymns. I weep when the hymns are sung.” So I think that when it comes to worship, I want to do a broad spectrum of music, all that’s good, all that people will enjoy but nothing that would harm or limit the worship of someone, even if they’re a weaker brother. If you’re a non-believer, you might not like any of that music. That’s not an issue to me. That’s not what that’s about. You might not like anything about the church. You might not like the sermon either. We’re not there to entertain non-believers, we’re there to worship. And I think the most powerful thing that could ever happen to a non-believer is to walk into a service of people who are lost in wonder, love and praise, to borrow the hymn writer, and who are exploding in worship to the Lord and to be an eavesdropper on a worshiping community of people. Far more powerful than walking into something that sounds like the last rock concert he went to, and then you have to convince him that what’s going on there is something completely different than anything he’s ever experienced when what he’s experienced is exactly what he always experiences. PHIL: Would you differentiate between the corporate worship of the entire body and say, “This meeting was maybe just for, you know, high school kids?” JOHN: Sure...sure. I understand that high school kids have a certain style of music and, you know, within reason. And we’re a long way from being on the wild edge of that kind of music. But, yeah, I think when...when kids come together, you...you can do some things that they’ll all enjoy, they’ll all like. As soon as you take that and stick it in the worship center on a Sunday morning, then you’re going to have half your congregation that are going to say, “Well, this offends me.” And the bottom line is this, and this is kind of the principle we’ve worked on, truth and beauty everybody understands...everybody understands in a good sound church the truth, so they understand the words are conveying the truth. And the second thing, everybody understands beautiful music...everybody does. It’s universal. So if you just stick with what is true and what is beautiful, melodic, wonderful harmonics, it’s not going to offend anybody. You don’t need to play on the edge of that. In other words, you don’t...you don’t need to say, “Well, we’re going to lose our high-school kids if we don’t have a rock band here on Sunday morning. I don’t think so. I think even kids who are used to listening to rock music hear more of that than they need to hear anyway. They don’t need it on Sunday morning. And every one understands beauty. They understand that. And if you do music that is God-honoring, Christ exalting and it is beautifully done, then everyone can relate to that. So I think if you stay in that category rather than trying to run to the edge with the illusion that somehow you’re going to win young people doing that, you’re going to wind up alienating maybe the in your church. PHIL: There are churches that have tried to address this whole issue by setting up competing church services so they’ll have one service with contemporary music and another service with traditional music and they actually minister to two totally separate crowds that never unite together for fellowship. What’s your assessment of that approach? JOHN: I think it just puts up a needless wall. You know, I was in one of those churches some time back, a huge church, seat about four thousand people and the pastor said, “I’ve got to tell you, your first service is traditional, the second is contemporary.” And I said, “Really?” And he said, “Yeah, I just want to let you know.” And I said, “Well, what do I do differently?” You’re supposed to give the same message. He said, “Well, take off your tie.” And I thought, “Take off my tie? Just exactly what impact does that suppose to have on anybody? Take off my tie?” “Well, it’s a little more than that. We have a choir in the first service and we have a smaller group in the second service.” Okay, and just exactly what effect is that supposed to have on somebody? I don’t even understand that. I think...I think it’s pointless. You know, we...we...we want to structure worship that is common to all our congregation. We want them all to enjoy the same experience. We want them all to feel united with one another so that if you came in the Sunday morning early hour or came in the second hour, you’re going to get the same thing. Everybody’s on common ground. People are talking about the same things. You can pick a different service one week and nothing’s going to change. I just think anything you do to unify your congregation is beneficial. Anything you do to isolate and marginalize and divide is counter-productive. PHIL: John, lots of times in the worship wars, the battle does come down to these cosmetic things. And there’s been a lot of emphasis in recent years on this. Pastors are told, you know, you’re not really with it if you’re not preaching in a Hawaiian shirt or if you wear a tie or whatever. Do you think the sort of downgrading of formality is having a detrimental effect on the church? JOHN: Very serious. I watched a Christian pastor, had good things to say on television on my vacation and he was wearing jeans, really scruffy shoes, a scruffy shirt and he might have had a hole in his jeans, and I thought, “You know, I don’t care what you say, you’re treating God and things dignified and sacred and holy, holier and more dignified than anything else, the truth of God, the presence of God, the honor and glory of God in a flippant, superficial way.” Look, our culture understands that if you wear a suit and a tie, the occasion is formal...the occasion is serious. There’s a certain dignity. I don’t think there’s anything more serious or more dignified than coming before the Lord in worship. Look, I wear a suit and a tie because I want to portray seriousness, dignity, certain sober mindedness. When you call people together for the purpose of worshiping God in the collective church and you’re going to open the Word of God and speak, that you need to maintain a decorum and a dignity and a respect that comes from looking like you treat this as a very, very special occasion. I think the most dignified occasion that you will ever engage in in your life is to come before the presence of God in worship. And I’m just not willing to down-grade that to wear the same thing that I wear when I go the 7-11 to pick up milk. PHIL: Right. Now it’s a complex issue, so I want to be sure I’ve asked you all the questions because someone out there is going to point out that in James, James says, “Look if somebody comes in to you assembly and he’s not dressed in all his finery, you don’t show preference to the person who is better dressed than the guy who maybe...maybe he’s poor. Maybe the shorts and flip-flops are all the guy can afford. What do you do in a situation like that? JOHN: Well obviously we’re talking about a completely different issue there. JOHN: If you’ve got a poor man, then you respect his poverty and you embrace him in his poverty and you do all you can to deliver him from his poverty. That’s...that’s describing...that’s describing a person who has no choice. And I’m sure that in the biblical world, the world of James, the New Testament era, the daily dress and the formal dress weren’t that different cause life, at least publically, was more formal. Men wore robes to the ground. Women wore robes to the ground, and so forth. But as society has gotten less and less interested in covering itself up, which is a whole other issue we didn’t talk about, I think it’s important for men to dress up, hopefully, so that women will follow that lead and see this as a formal occasion and not an occasion for them to dress like they were going to the beach. What does...what would your advice be to a person who’s in a church where the formality and the seriousness of worship has just been totally thrown out the window and now everything is entertainment and jollity for the sake of the people who are there? What do you advise a person like that? JOHN: Sure. Well and the short answer to that question is, if that’s the way they do in the beginning, then the message must be pretty superficial. So you’ve got to ask the question, is this not simply a reflection of the theology here? And if there’s a better option for sound truth, sound teaching, you need to find that. PHIL: It comes back to the definition of worship. JOHN: Right. I don’t need anybody to whip up my worship. I...I drive in my car, you know, around and I sing hymns and I praise the Lord and I thank Him and I lift up my grateful praise to God for His goodness in my life. I love it when the congregation surrounds me and the musicians surround me in that environment. But worship is just a way of life. It’s that way for me every day on every occasion. I view the whole world, I think, with worshiping eyes. I see everything as a revelation of God and His mercy and His goodness. And so it is informed by my understanding of God and the better I understand Him, the more prone I am to worship all the time. And then when I go to gather with God’s people, it’s the ascendency of that worship in the congregation of the righteous that is so rich and exhilarating. And I think it needs to be exalted, lofty, transcendent, dignified, respectful in every sense. PHIL: Thanks, John, that’s a great start and we’ll come back and take this issue up again, I promise.
Newsletter #185 - October 9, 2013 >>> Surface Currents >>> There's no question that if you're on your boat for any length of time, quality information about the existing weather and weather predictions are critical to your safety and enjoyment. We all use weather information for planning and go/no-go decisions. There's no doubt that many of you are "waiting for weather" right now. But there are other types of environmental data besides the typical weather information that can also be useful. At the top of the list is current direction and speed for waterways and streams as well as open ocean currents. Technically this is known as surface currents, the top 25 meters of water in a moving body of water. Current prediction is often tied to tide prediction and most navigation products that provide tide prediction also show the current of specific current stations. But there are other types of current data that are not provided. For instance, on a waterway with multiple ocean inlets, it isn't always possible to predict where the current direction break will occur in the waterway. That point is often an important planning item that we ignore because the data rarely exists. Similarly, in the open ocean, eddy currents form from large ocean streams (like the Gulf Stream) based on a large number of factors that are very difficult to predict. The bottom line is that we all could use better current information for our cruising. And given that the current you are experiencing can easily be calculated with a heading, speed-thru-water sensor, and GPS, crowd-sourcing is an obvious way that we can all work together to provide the data and models to help each other. The International Hydrographic Office (IHO) is trying to create a standard for the storage and display of current direction and speed. They are looking for feedback from professional mariners and recreational boaters. We were contacted to assist in generating recreational boater feedback. It's your opportunity to tell them what you think and make them realize that recreational use is important. The survey takes about 10-20 minutes to complete and is fun to do. Give it a shot: >>> Newsletters That We Read >>> When we meet other boaters, they often ask us about the magazines and newsletters that we follow to get information while we're cruising. The first part of that is easy - we don't read magazines. While we might pick up an old Soundings or other magazine laying around at a boater's lounge in a marina, it doesn't make sense to pay to have them chase us around with our mail. Besides, we have found that the online information we use is vast, very current, and readily accessible. For online newsletters, here are a couple that you might not know about that are worth signing up for: This email newsletter comes out once a week on Thursday. It's quite well done with a great mixture of news, products, destinations, and short items of interest. It has a sailing slant but most of the items are about cruising and the type of boat you're in just doesn't matter. The ending segment is always about a galley idea. Bottom line - if you're cruising or want to be cruising, sign up for this free newsletter: This is another email newsletter that comes out every Wednesday. It's very long and contains many pictures. It's slanted at smaller motorboats but all types of boats are covered. We especially like the different skills segments that challenge our thinking about boat handling and other basic skills. The last section is always a contest where you submit the caption to a funny/odd boating picture. Sign up for this free newsletter at: http://www.boattest.com/member/auth/signup_step1.aspx We've always liked Soundings. It always came across as more current than other publications and seemed more real. And while they continue to publish their paper media, they also have a pretty good newsletter that's timely, informative, and delivered to your inbox for free. Sign up at: >>> Defender 1st >>> When you live on a boat it seems there's always some sort of liquid to deal with somewhere. This week's Defender 1st item will help you deal with most any type of liquid you might encounter on your boat. The Moeller Fluid Extractor Pump is designed to handle large fluid extraction jobs with ease. It is suitable for most any fluid including warm or cold oil. It is not to be used with gasoline, however. It is offered in three capacities with either manual only or a manual/ pneumatic version. Each has an automatic shut-off to eliminate overflow. The 5 liter and 7 liter manual models pump on both the upstroke and downstroke for more efficiency. The pneumatic/manual model has a 15 liter capacity and lets you choose between hand pump or shop air for automatic operation. Check out the link for all the details plus the ActiveCaptain Coupon Code. Moeller Fluid Extractor Pump, 5 L capacity: $67.99 (Regularly: $84.99) Moeller Fluid Extractor Pump, 7 L capacity: $77.59 (Regularly: $96.99) Moeller Fluid Extractor Manual/Pneumatic, 15 L capacity: $116.79 (Regularly: $145.99) Special ends: October 15, 2013 Get the special price and learn more at: Make dealing with those messy fluids onboard faster and cleaner. Select the perfect pump for your needs while saving money. You won't find a better price on a high quality pump. Remember - Defender 1st: one product, one week, one incredible price. When you're thinking about purchasing boating supplies, think of Defender first. It has been a terrific week here at Green Turtle Bay. Dylan and Dee Dee have been enjoying much time ashore and love people watching off the bow. Dee Dee took her first swim and is learning to ride in the dinghy like a big girl. Of course, she takes her cue from Dylan who is a swimming and dinghy riding pro. Check out what the canine crew is up to on their blog: Karen and Jeffrey Siegel The Interactive Cruising Guidebook Social Navigation for Active Captains Real reviews from Active Captains \|2015-03-25\|\|#259 - The Green Flash\| \|2015-03-18\|\|#258 - Reviews Matter\| \|2015-03-11\|\|#257 - Dinghy Anchoring\| \|2015-03-04\|\|#256 - Your Favorite Things\| \|2015-02-25\|\|#255 - ActiveCaptain Services\| \|2015-02-18\|\|#254 - ActiveCaptain Loves Furuno\| \|2015-02-11\|\|#253 - New Services Capabilities\| \|2015-02-04\|\|#252 - Provisioning the aCappella Way\| \|2015-01-28\|\|#251 - Sharing the Experience\| \|2015-01-21\|\|#250 - Anchor Alarm Mathematics (again)\| \|2015-01-14\|\|#249 - Gotta Love the Crowd\| \|2015-01-07\|\|#248 - The Great Loop Videos\| \|2014-12-31\|\|#247 - Auld Lang Syne\| \|2014-12-17\|\|#246 - ActiveCaptain Everywhere\| \|2014-12-10\|\|#245 - Locations via Satellite\| \|2014-12-03\|\|#244 - Social Navigation - 2 - Anchoring\| \|2014-11-26\|\|#243 - The Companion - Misunderstood\| \|2014-11-19\|\|#242 - The St Petersburg Yacht Club\| \|2014-11-12\|\|#241 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 7\| \|2014-11-05\|\|#240 - Overnights\| \|2014-10-29\|\|#239 - Social Navigation - 1\| \|2014-10-22\|\|#238 - It's For Safety\| \|2014-10-15\|\|#237 - No Matter What You Are\| \|2014-10-08\|\|#236 - Your eBoatCards Profile\| \|2014-10-01\|\|#235 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 6\| \|2014-09-24\|\|#234 - 3rd Party Partner Apps\| \|2014-09-17\|\|#233 - Questioning Questions\| \|2014-09-10\|\|#232 - Keeping Watch\| \|2014-09-03\|\|#231 - More Fuel Fire\| \|2014-08-27\|\|#230 - Adding Fire to Fuel (Prices)\| \|2014-08-20\|\|#229 - Tweaking ActiveCaptain\| \|2014-08-13\|\|#228 - Aqua Map for iOS\| \|2014-08-06\|\|#227 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 5\| \|2014-07-30\|\|#226 - eBoatCards Apps\| \|2014-07-23\|\|#225 - Management Response\| \|2014-07-16\|\|#224 - It's Better in the Berry's\| \|2014-07-09\|\|#223 - Going All In\| \|2014-07-02\|\|#222 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 4\| \|2014-06-25\|\|#221 - The Float Purpose\| \|2014-06-18\|\|#220 - Become a Google Expert\| \|2014-06-11\|\|#219 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 3\| \|2014-06-04\|\|#218 - Rendezvous/Regatta/Revisited\| \|2014-05-28\|\|#217 - Crowd-Sourcing Databases\| \|2014-05-21\|\|#216 - The Sweet Smell of Cruising\| \|2014-05-14\|\|#215 - Deleting Hazards\| \|2014-05-07\|\|#214 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 2\| \|2014-04-30\|\|#213 - WiFi Devices for Boats - 1\| \|Archive\|\|Complete list of all newsletters\|
In Smolny on the 25th of October the most democratic of all parliaments in the world’s history was to meet. Who knows – perhaps also the most important. Having got free of the influence of compromisist intellectuals, the local soviets had sent up for the most part workers and soldiers. The majority of them were people without big names, but who had proved themselves in action and won lasting confidence in their own localities. From the active army it was almost exclusively rank-and-file soldiers who had run the blockade of army committees and headquarters and come here as delegates. A majority of them had begun to live a political life with the revolution. They had been formed by an experience of eight months. They knew little, but knew it well. The outward appearance of the Congress proclaimed its make-up. The officers’ chevrons, the eye-glasses and neckties of intellectuals to be seen at the first Congress had almost completely disappeared. A grey colour prevailed uninterruptedly, in costumes and in faces. All had worn out their clothes during the war. Many of the city workers had provided themselves with soldiers’ coats. The trench delegates were by no means a pretty picture: long unshaven, in old torn trench-coats, with heavy papakhi on their dishevelled hair, often with cotton sticking out through a hole, with coarse weather-beaten faces, heavy cracked hands, fingers yellowed with tobacco, buttons torn off, belts hanging loose, and long unoiled boots wrinkled and rusty. The plebeian nation had for the first time sent up an honest representation made in its own image and not retouched. The statistics of this Congress which assembled during the hours of insurrection are very, incomplete. At the moment of opening there were 650 delegates with votes: 390 fell to the lot of the Bolsheviks – by no means all members of the party, but they were of the flesh and blood of the masses, and the masses had no roads left but the Bolshevik road. Many of the delegates who had brought doubts with them were maturing fast in the red-hot atmosphere of Petrograd. How completely had the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries squandered the political capital of the February revolution At the June Congress of Soviets the Compromisers had a majority of 600 votes out of the whole number of 832 delegates. Now the compromisist opposition of all shades made up less than a quarter of the Congress. The Mensheviks, with the national group adhering to them, amounted to only 80 members – about half of them “Lefts.” Out of 159 Social Revolutionaries – according to other reports 190 – about three-fifths were Lefts, and moreover the Right continued to melt fast during the very sitting of the Congress. Toward the end the total number of delegates, according to several lists, reached 900. Hut this figure, while including a number of advisory members, does not on the other hand include all those with votes. The registration was carried on intermittently; documents have been lost; the information about party affiliations was incomplete. In any case the dominant position of the Bolsheviks in the Congress remains indubitable. A straw-vote taken among the delegates revealed that 505 soviets stood for the transfer of all power to the soviets; 86 for a government of the “democracy”; 55 for a coalition; 21 for a coalition, but without the Kadets. Although eloquent even in this form, these figures give an exaggerated idea of the remains of the Compromisers’ influence. Those for democracy and coalition were soviets from the more backward districts and least important points. From early in the morning of the 25th caucuses of the factions were held in Smolny. Only those attended the Bolshevik caucus who were free from fighting duties. The opening of the Congress was delayed: the Bolshevik leaders wanted to finish with the Winter Palace first. But the opposing factions, too, were in no hurry. They themselves had to decide what to do, and that was not easy. Hours passed. Sub-factions were disputing within the factions. The split among the Social Revolutionaries took place after a resolution to withdraw from the Congress had been rejected by 92 votes against 60. It was only late in the evening that the Right and Left Social Revolutionaries began to sit in different rooms. At 8 o’clock the Mensheviks demanded a new delay: they had too many opinions. Night came on. The operations at the Winter Palace were dragging out. But it became impossible to wait longer. It was necessary to say some clear word to the aroused and watchful nation. The revolution had taught the art of filling space. Delegates, guests, guards, jammed into the commencement hall of the noble maidens, making room for more and more. Warnings of the danger of the floor’s collapsing had no effect, nor did appeals to smoke a little less. All crowded closer and smoked twice as much. John Reed with difficulty fought his way through the noisy crowd around the doors. The hall was not heated, but the air was heavy and hot. Jamming the entries and the side exits, sitting on all the window sills, the delegates now patiently await the president’s gong. Tseretelli, Cheidze, Chernov – none of them is on the platform. Only leaders of the second rank have come to their funeral. A short man in the uniform of a military doctor opens the session at 10.40 in the evening in the name of the Executive Committee. The Congress, he says, assembles in such “exceptional circumstances” that he, Dan, obeying the directions of the Central Executive Committee, will refrain from making a political speech. His party friends are now indeed under fire in the Winter Palace “while loyally fulfilling their duty as ministers.” The last thing these delegates are expecting is a blessing from the Central Executive Committee. They look up at the platform with hostility. If those people still exist politically, what have they got to do with us and our business? In the name of the Bolsheviks a Moscow delegate, Avanessov, moves that the præsidium be elected upon a proportional basis: 14 Bolsheviks, 7 Social Revolutionaries, 3 Mensheviks and 1 Internationalist. The Right immediately declines to enter the præsidium. Martov’s group sits tight for the time being; it has not decided. Seven votes go over to the Left Social Revolutionaries. The Congress watches these introductory conflicts with a scowl. Avanessov announces the Bolshevik candidates for the præsidium: Lenin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov, Nogin, Skliansky, Krylenko Antonov-Ovseönko, Riazanov, Muranov, Lunacharsky, Kollontai, Stuchka. “The præsidium,” writes Sukhanov, “consisted of the principal Bolshevik leaders and six (in reality seven) Left Social Revolutionaries.” Zinoviev and Kamenev were included in the præsidium as authoritative party names in spite of their active opposition to the insurrection; Rykov and Nogin as representatives of the Moscow Soviet; Lunacharsky and Kollontai as popular agitators of that period; Riazanov as a representative of the trade unions; Muranov as an old worker-Bolshevik who had carried himself courageously during the trial of the deputies of the State Duma; Stuchka as head of the Lettish organisation; Krylenko and Skliansky as representatives of the army; Antonov-Ovseönko as a leader of the Petrograd battles. The absence of Sverdlov’s name is obviously explained by the fact that he himself drew up the list, and in the confusion nobody corrected it. It is characteristic of the party morals of the time that the whole headquarters of the opponents of the insurrection turned up in the præsidium: Zinoviev, Kamenev, Nogin, Rykov, Lunacharsky, Riazanov. Of the Left Social Revolutionaries only the little fragile and courageous Spiridonova, who had served long years at hard labour for assassinating the subduer of the Tombovsk peasants, enjoyed an all-Russian renown. The Left Social Revolutionaries had no other “name.” The Rights, on the other hand, had now little or nothing but names left. The Congress greeted its præsidium with enthusiasm. While the factions had been assembling and conferring, Lenin with his make-up still on, in wig and big spectacles, was sitting in the passage-way in the company of two or three Bolsheviks. On the way to a meeting of their faction Dan and Skobelev stopped still. Opposite the table where the conspirators were sitting, stared at Lenin, and obviously recognised him. Time, then, to take the make-up off. But Lenin was in no hurry to appear publicly. He preferred to look round a little and gather the threads into his hands while remaining behind the scenes. In his recollections of Lenin published in 1924, Trotsky writes: “The first session of the Second Congress of Soviets was sitting in Smolny. Lenin did not appear here. He remained in one of the rooms of Smolny in which, as I remember, there was for some reason no furniture, or almost none. Later somebody spread blankets on the floor and put two cushions on them, Vladimir Ilych and I took a rest there lying side-by-side. But in just a few minutes I called: ‘Dan is talking and you must answer him.’ Returned after my reply, I again lay down beside Vladimir Ilych, who of course had no thought of going to sleep. Was that indeed possible? Every five or ten minutes somebody would run in from the assembly hall to tell us what was going on.” The president’s chair is occupied by Kamenev, one of those phlegmatic types designed by nature herself for the office of chairman. There are three questions, he announces, on the order of the day: organisation of a government; war and peace; convocation of the Constituent Assembly. An unusual, dull, alarming rumble breaks into the noise of the meeting from outside. This is Peter and Paul fortress ratifying the order of the day with artillery fire. A high tension current runs through the Congress, which now suddenly feels and realises what it really is: the convention of a civil war. Lozovsky, an opponent of the insurrection, demanded a report from the Petrograd Soviet. But the Military Revolutionary Committee was a little behind hand. Replying artillery testified that the report was not ready. The insurrection was in full swing. The Bolshevik leaders were continually withdrawing to the rooms of the Military Revolutionary Committee to receive communications or give orders. Echoes of the fighting would burst up through the assembly like tongues of flame. When votes were taken hands would be raised among bristling bayonets. A blue-grey acrid tobacco smoke hid the beautiful white columns and chandeliers. The verbal battles of the two camps were extraordinarily Impressive against a background of cannon-shots. Martov demanded the floor. The moment when the balance is still oscillating is his moment – this inventive statesman of eternal waverings. With his hoarse tubercular voice Martov makes instant rejoinder to the metallic voice of the guns: “We must put a stop to military action on both sides ... The question of power is beginning to be decided by conspiratorial methods. All the revolutionary parties have been placed before a fail accompli ... A civil war threatens us with an explosion of counter-revolution. A peaceful solution of the crisis can be obtained by creating a government which will be recognised by the whole democracy.” A considerable portion of the Congress applauds. Sukhanov remarks ironically: “Evidently many and many a Bolshevik, not having absorbed the spirit of the teachings of Lenin and Trotsky, would have been glad to take that course.” The Left Social Revolutionaries and a group of United Internationalists support the proposal of peace negotiations. The Right Wing, and perhaps also the close associates of Martov, are confident that the Bolsheviks will reject this proposal. They are wrong. The Bolsheviks send Lunacharsky to the tribune, the most peace-loving, the most velvety of their orators. “The Bolshevik faction,” he says, “has absolutely nothing against Martov’s proposal.” The enemy are astonished. “Lenin and Trotsky in thus giving way a little to their own masses,” comments Sukhanov, “are at the same time cutting the ground from under the Right Wing.” Martov’s proposal is adopted unanimously. “If the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries withdraw now,” runs the comment in Martov’s group, “they will bury themselves.” It is possible to hope, therefore, that the Congress “will take the correct road of creating a united democratic front.” Vain hope! A revolution never moves on diagonals. The Right Wing immediately violates the just-approved initiation of peace negotiations. The Menshevik Kharash, a delegate from the 12th Army with a captain’s star on his shoulders, makes a statement: “These political hypocrites propose that we decide the question of power. Meanwhile it is being decided behind our backs ... Those blows at the Winter Palace are driving nails in the coffin of the party which has undertaken such an adventure ...” The captain’s challenge is answered by the Congress with a grumble of indignation. Lieutenant Kuchin, who had spoken at the State Conference in Moscow in the name of the front, tries here also to wield the authority of the army organisations: “This Congress is untimely and even unauthorised.” “In whose name do you speak?” shout the tattered trench-coats, their credentials written all over them in the mud of the trenches. Kuchin carefully enumerates eleven armies. But here this deceives nobody. At the front as at the rear the generals of compromise are without soldiers. The group from the front, continues the Menshevik lieutenant, “declines to assume any responsibility for the consequences of this adventure.” That means a complete break with the revolution. “Henceforth the arena of struggle is transferred to the localities.” That means fusion with the counter-revolution against the soviets. And so the conclusion: “The front group ... withdraws from this Congress” One after another the representatives of the Right mount the tribune. They have lost the parishes and churches, but they still hold the belfries, and they hasten for the last time to pound the cracking bells. These socialist and democrats, having made a compromise by hook and crook with the imperialist bourgeoisie, today flatly refuse to compromise with the people in revolt. Their political calculations are laid bare. The Bolsheviks will collapse in a few days, they are thinking: We must separate ourselves from them as quickly as possible, even help to overthrow them, and thus to the best of our ability insure ourselves and our future. In the name of the Right Menshevik faction, Khinchuk, a former president of the Moscow Soviet and a future Soviet ambassador in Berlin, reads a declaration: “The military conspiracy of the Bolsheviks ... will plunge the country into civil dissension, demolish the Constituent Assembly, threaten us with a military catastrophe, and lead to the triumph of the counter-revolution.” The sole way out: “Open negotiations with the Provisional Government for the formation of a power resting on all layers of the democracy.” Having learned nothing, these people propose to the Congress to cross off the insurrection and return to Kerensky. Through the uproar, bellowing, and even hissing, the words of the representative of the Right Social Revolutionaries are hardly distinguishable. The declaration of his party announces “the impossibility of work in collaboration” with the Bolsheviks, and declares the very Congress of Soviets, although convoked and opened by the compromisist Central Executive Committee, to be without authority. This demonstration of the Right Wing does not cow anybody, but causes alarm and irritation. The majority of the delegates are too sick and tired of these bragging and narrow-minded leaders who fed them first with phrases and then with measures of repression. Can it be that the Dans, Khinchuks and Kuchins still expect to instruct and command us? A Lettish soldier, Peterson, with a tubercular flush on his cheeks and burning hatred in his eyes, denounces Kharash and Kuchin as impostors. “The revolution has had enough gab! We want action! The power should be in our hands. Let the impostors leave the congress – the army is through with them!” This voice tense with passion relieves the mind of the Congress. which has received nothing so far but insults. Other frontline soldiers rush to the support of Peterson. “These Kuchins represent the opinions of little gangs who have been sitting in the army committees since April. The army long ago demanded new elections.” “Those who live in the trenches are impatiently awaiting the transfer of power to the soviets.” But the Rights still hold the belfries. A representative of the Bund declares that “all that has happened in Petrograd is a misfortune.” and invites the delegates to join the members of the duma who have decided to march unarmed to the Winter Palace in order to die with the government. “Gibes were to be heard in the general uproar,” writes Sukhanov. “some coarse and some poisonous.” The unctuous orator has obviously mistaken his audience. “Enough from you!” “Deserters!” shout the delegates, guests, Red Guards and sentries at the door to the withdrawing delegates. “Join Kornilov!” “Enemies of the people!” The withdrawal of the Rights did not leave any vacant space. Evidently the rank-and-file delegates had refused to join the officers and junkers for a struggle against the workers and soldiers. Only about 70 delegates – that is, a little more than half of the Right Wing faction – went out. The waverers took their place with the intermediate groups who had decided not to leave the Congress. Whereas before the opening of the Congress the Social Revolutionaries of all tendencies had numbered not over 190 men, during the next few hours the number of Left Social Revolutionaries alone rose to 180. They were joined by all those who had not yet decided to join the Bolsheviks although ready to support them. The Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries were quite ready to remain in a Provisional Government or some sort of a Pre-Parliament under any circumstances. Can one after all break with cultured society? But the soviets – that is only the people. The soviets are all right while you can use them to get a compromise with the bourgeoisie, but can one possibly think of tolerating soviets which have suddenly imagined themselves masters of the country? “The Bolsheviks were left alone,” wrote the Social Revolutionary, Zenzinov, subsequently, “and from that moment they began to rely only upon crude physical force.” Moral principle undoubtedly slammed the door along with Dan and Gotz. Moral principle will march in a procession of 300 men with two lanterns to the Winter Palace, only to run into the crude physical force of the Bolsheviks and – back down. The motion adopted by the Congress in favour of peace negotiations was left hanging in the air. If the Rights had admitted the possibility of compromising with a victorious proletariat, they would have been in no hurry to break with the Congress. Martov could not have failed to understand this. Nevertheless he clung to the idea of a compromise – the thing upon which his whole policy always stands or falls. “We must put a stop to the bloodshed ...” he begins again. “Those are only rumours!” voices call out. “It is not only rumours that we hear,” he answers. “If you come to the windows you will hear cannon-shots.” This is undeniable. When the Congress quiets down, shots are audible without going to the windows. Martov’s declaration, hostile through and through to the Bolsheviks, and lifeless in its arguments, condemns the revolution as “accomplished by the Bolshevik party alone by the method of a purely military plot,” and demands that the Congress suspend its labours until an agreement has been reached with all the socialists parties. To try to find the resultant of a parallelogram of forces in a revolution is worse than trying to catch your own shadow! At that moment there appeared in the Congress the Bolshevik faction of the city duma, those who had refused to seek a problematic death under the walls of the Winter Palace. They were led by Joffé, subsequently the first Soviet ambassador at Berlin. The Congress again crowded up, giving its friends a joyful welcome. But it was necessary to put up a resistance to Martov. This task fell to Trotsky. “Now since the exodus of the Rights,” concedes Sukhanov, “his position is as strong as Martov’s is weak.” The opponents stand side by side in the tribune, hemmed in on all sides by a solid ring of excited delegates. “What has taken place,” says Trotsky, is an insurrection, not a conspiracy. An insurrection of the popular masses needs no justification. We have tempered and hardened the revolutionary energy of the Petrograd workers and soldiers. We have openly forged the will of the masses to insurrection, and not conspiracy ... Our insurrection has conquered, and now you propose to us: Renounce your victory: make a compromise. With whom? I ask: With whom ought we to make a compromise? With that pitiful handful who just went out? ... Haven’t we seen them through and through. There is no longer anybody In Russia who is for them. Are the millions of workers and peasants represented in this Congress, whom they are ready now as always to turn over for a price to the mercies of the bourgeoisie, are they to enter a compromise with these men? No, a compromise is no good here. To those who have gone out, and to all who made like proposals, we must say, ‘You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your rôle is played out. Go where you belong from now on – into the rubbish-can of history!’” “Then we will go!” cries Martov without awaiting the vote of the Congress. “Martov in anger and affectation,” regrets Sukhanov. “began to make his way from the tribune towards the door. And I began to gather together my faction for a conference in the form of an emergency session ...” It was not wholly a matter of affectation. The Hamlet of democratic socialism, Martov, would make a step forward when the revolution fell back as in July; but now when the revolution was ready for a tiger’s leap, Martov would fall back. The withdrawal of the Rights had deprived him of the possibility of parliamentary manoeuvring, and that put him instantly out of his element. He hastened to abandon the Congress and break with the insurrection. Sukhanov replied as best he could. The faction split in half: Martov won by 14 votes against 12. Trotsky introduced a resolution – an act of indictment against the Compromisers: They prepared the ruinous offensive of June 18; they supported the government of treason to the people; they screened the deception of the peasants on the land question; they carried out the disarming of the workers; they were responsible for the purposeless dragging out of the war; they permitted the bourgeoisie to deepen the economic ruin of the country; having lost the confidence of the masses, they resisted the calling of a soviet congress; and finally, finding themselves in a minority, they broke with the soviets. Here again the order of the day is suspended for a declaration. Really the patience of the Bolshevik præsidium has no bounds. The president of the executive committee of the peasant soviet has come to summon the peasants to abandon this “untimely” congress, and go to the Winter Palace “to die with those who were sent there to do our will.” This summons to die in the ruins of the Winter Palace is getting pretty tiresome in its monotony. A sailor just arrived from the Aurora, ironically announces that there are no ruins, since they are only firing blanks from the cruiser. “Proceed with your business in peace,” he says. The soul of the Congress finds rest in the admirable black-bearded sailor, incarnating the simple and imperious will of the insurrection. Martov with his mosaic of thoughts and feelings belongs to another world. That is why he breaks with the Congress. Still another special declaration – this time half friendly. “The Right Social Revolutionaries,” says Kamkov, “have gone out, but we, the Lefts, have remained.” The Congress welcomes those who have remained. However, even they consider it necessary to achieve a united revolutionary front, and come out against Trotsky’s sharp resolution shutting the door against a compromise with the moderate democracy. Here too the Bolsheviks made a concession. Nobody ever saw them before, it seems, in such a yielding mood. No wonder; they are the masters of the situation and they have no need to insist upon the forms of words. Again Lunacharsky takes the tribune. “The weight of the task which has fallen upon us is not subject to any doubt,” he says. A union of all the genuinely revolutionary elements of the democracy is necessary. But have we, the Bolsheviks, taken any steps whatever to repel the other groups? Did we not adopt Martov’s proposal unanimously? For this we have been answered with accusations and threats. Is it not obvious that those who have left the Congress “are ceasing even their compromisist work and openly going over to the camp of the Kornilovists?” The Bolsheviks did not insist upon an immediate vote on Trotsky’s resolution. They did not want to hinder the attempts to reach an agreement on a soviet basis. The method of teaching by object-lesson can be successfully applied even to the accompaniment of artillery! As before with the adoption of Martov’s proposal, so now the concession of Kamkov only revealed the impotence of these conciliatory labour pains. However, in distinction from the Left Mensheviks, the Left Social Revolutionaries did not quit the Congress: they were feeling too directly the pressure of the villages in revolt. A mutual feeling-out has taken place. The primary positions have been occupied. There comes a pause in the evolution of the Congress. Shall we adopt the basic decrees and create a soviet government? It is impossible: the old government is still sitting there in the semi-darkness of a chamber in the Winter Palace, the only lamp on the table carefully barricaded with newspapers. Shortly after two o’clock in the morning the præsidium declares a half-hour recess. The red marshals employed the short delay accorded to them with complete success. A new wind was blowing in the atmosphere of the Congress when its sitting was renewed. Kamenev read from the tribune a telephonogram just received from Antonov. The Winter Palace has been captured by the troops of the Revolutionary Military Committee; with the exception of Kerensky the whole Provisional Government with the dictator Kishkin at its head is under arrest. Although everybody had already learned the news as it passed from mouth to mouth, this official communication crashed in heavier than a cannon salute. The leap over the abyss dividing the revolutionary class from power has been made. Driven out of the Palace of Kshesinskaia in July, the Bolsheviks have now entered the Winter Palace as rulers. There is no other power now in Russia but the power of the soviets. A complex tangle of feelings breaks loose in applause and shouting: triumph, hope, but also anxiety. Then come new and more confident bursts of applause. The deed is done. Even the most favourable correlation of forces contains concealed surprises, but the victory becomes indubitable when the enemy’s staff is made prisoner. Kamenev impressively reads the list of those arrested. The better known names bring hostile or ironic exclamations from the Congress. Especially bitter is the greeting of Tereshchenko who has guided the foreign destinies of Russia. And Kerensky? Kerensky? It has become known that at ten o’clock this morning he was orating without great success to the garrison of Gatchina. “Where he went from there is not exactly known; rumour says to the front.” The fellow-travellers of the revolution feel bad. They foresee that now the stride of the Bolsheviks will become more firm. Somebody from the Left Social Revolutionaries objects to the arrest of the socialist ministers. A representative of the United Internationalists offers a warning – “lest the Minister of Agriculture Maslov, turn up in the same cell in which he sat under the monarchy.” He is answered by Trotsky, who was imprisoned during the ministry of Maslov in the same “Kresty” as under Nicholas: “Political arrest is not a matter of vengeance; it is dictated ... by considerations of expediency. The government ... should be indicted and tried, first of all for its indubitable connection with Kornilov ... The socialist ministers will be placed only under house arrest.” It would have been simpler and more accurate to say that the seizure of the old government was dictated by the demands of the still unfinished struggle. It was a question of the political beheading of the hostile camp, and not of punishment for past sins. But this parliamentary query as to the arrests was immediately crowded out by another infinitely more important episode. The 3rd Bicycle Battalion sent by Kerensky against Petrograd had come over to the side of the revolutionary people! This too favourable news seemed unbelievable, but that was exactly what had happened. This selected military unit, the first to be chosen out from the whole active army, adhered to the insurrection before ever reaching the capital. If there had been a shade of restraint in its joy at the arrest of the ministers, the Congress was now seized with unalloyed and irrepressible rapture. The Bolshevik commissar of Tsarskoe Selo together with a delegate from the bicycle battalion ascended the tribune. They had both just arrived to make a report to the Congress: “The garrison of Tsarkoe Selo is defending the approaches to Petrograd.” The defensists withdrew from the soviet. “All the work rested upon us alone.” Learning of the approach of the bicycle men, the Soviet of Tsarskoe Selo prepared to resist, but the alarm happily turned out to be false. “Among the bicycle men are no enemies of the Congress of Soviets.” Another battalion will soon arrive at Tsarskoe, and friendly greeting is already in preparation there. The Congress drinks down this report in great gulps. The representative of the bicycle men is greeted with a storm, a whirlwind, a cyclone. This 3rd Battalion, he reports, was suddenly sent from the South-western front to the North under telegraphic orders “for the defence of Petrograd.” The bicycle men advanced “with eyes blindfolded,” only confusedly guessing what was up. At Peredolsk they ran into an echelon of the 5th Bicycle Battalion, also moving on the capital. At a joint meeting held right there at the station, it became clear that “among all the bicyclists there is not one man to be found who would consent to take action against his brothers.” It was jointly decided not to submit to the government. “I tell you concretely,” says the bicycle soldier, “we will not give the power to a government at the head of which stand the bourgeoisie and the landlords!” That word “concretely,” introduced by the revolution into the everyday language of the people, sounded fine at this meeting! How many hours was it since they were threatening the Congress from that same tribune with punishment from the front? Now the front itself had spoken its “concrete” word. Suppose the army committees do sabotage the Congress. Suppose the rank-and-file soldier mass only succeeds in getting its delegates there rather as an exception. Suppose in many regiments and divisions they have not yet learned to distinguish a Bolshevik from a Social Revolutionary. Never mind! The voice from Peredolsk is the authentic, unmistakable, irrefutable voice of the army. From this verdict there is no appeal. The Bolsheviks, and they only, had understood in time that the soldier-cook of the bicycle battalion infinitely better represented the front than all the Kharashes and Kuchins with their wilted credentials. A portentous change occurred here in the mood of the delegates. “They began to feel,” writes Sukhanov, “that things were going to go smoothly and well, that the horrors promised on the Right would not after all be so terrible, and that the leaders might be correct in everything else too.” The unhappy Mensheviks selected this moment to draw attention to themselves. They had not yet, it seems, withdrawn. They had been considering in their faction what to do. Out of a desire to bring after him the wavering groups, Kapelinsky, who had been appointed to inform the congress of the decision adopted, finally spoke aloud the most candid reason for breaking with the Bolsheviks: “Remember that the troops are riding towards Petrograd; we are threatened with catastrophe.” “What! Are you still here?” – the question was shouted from all corners of the hall. “Why, you went out once!” The Mensheviks moved in a tiny group towards the entrance, accompanied by scornful farewells. “We went out,” grieves Sukhanov, “completely untying the hands of the Bolsheviks, turning over to them the whole arena of the revolution.” It would have made little difference if they had stayed. In any case they went to the bottom. The waves of events closed ruthlessly over their heads. It was time for the Congress to address a manifesto to the people, but the session continued to consist only of special declarations. Events simply refused to fit into the order of the day. At 5.17 in the morning Krylenko, staggering tired, made his way to the tribune with a telegram in his hand: The 12th Army sends greetings to the Congress and informs it of the creation of a military revolutionary committee which has undertaken to stand guard in the Northern front. Attempts of the government to get armed help have broken against the resistance of the army. The commander-in-chief of the Northern front, General Cheremissov, has submitted to the Committee. The commissar of the Provisional Government, Voitinsky, has resigned, and awaits a substitute. Delegations from the echelons moved against Petrograd have one after another announced to the Military Revolutionary Committee their solidarity ... with the Petrograd garrison. “Pandemonium,” says Reed, “men weeping, embracing each other.” Lunacharsky at last got a chance to read a proclamation addressed to the workers, soldiers and peasants. But this was not merely a proclamation. By its mere exposition of what had happened and what was proposed, this hastily written document laid down the foundations of a new state structure. “The authority of the compromisist Central Executive Committee is at an end. The Provisional Government is deposed. The Congress assumes the power ...” The Soviet Government proposes immediate peace. It will transfer the land to the peasants democratise the army, establish control over production, promptly summon the Constituent Assembly, guarantee the right of the nations of Russia to self-determination. “The Congress resolves: That all power in the localities goes over to the soviets.” Every phrase as it is read turns into a salvo of applause. “Soldiers! Be on your guard! Railway workers! Stop all echelons sent by Kerensky against Petrograd! ... The fate of the revolution and the fate of the democratic peace is in your hands!” Hearing the land mentioned, the peasants pricked up their ears. According to its constitution the Congress represented only soviets of workers and soldiers; but there were delegates present from individual peasant soviets. They now demanded that they be mentioned in the document. They were immediately given a right to vote. The representative of the Petrograd peasant soviet signed the proclamation “with both hands and both feet.” A member of Avksentiev’s Executive Committee, Berezin, silent until now, stated that out of 68 peasant soviets replying to a telegraphic questionnaire, one-half had expressed themselves for a Soviet government, the other half for the transfer of power to the Constituent Assembly. If this was the mood of the provincial soviets, half composed of governmental functionaries, could there be any doubt that a future peasant congress would support the Soviet power? While solidifying the rank-and-file delegates, the proclamation frightened and even repelled some of the fellow-travellers by its irrevocableness. Small factions and remnants again filed through the tribune. For the third time a group of Mensheviks, obviously the most leftward now, broke away from the Congress. They withdrew, it seems, only in order to be in a position to save the Bolsheviks: “Otherwise you will destroy yourselves and us and the revolution.” The president of the Polish Socialist party, Lapinsky, although he remained at the Congress in order to “defend his point of view to the end,” gave essential adherence to the declaration of Martov: “The Bolsheviks will not be able to wield the power which they are assuming.” The United Jewish Workers party abstained from the vote – likewise the United Internationalists. How much, though, did all these “united” amount to altogether? The proclamation was adopted almost unanimously, only two dissenting, with twelve abstaining! The delegates had hardly strength left to applaud. The session finally came to an end at about six o’clock. A grey and cold autumn morning was dawning over the city. The hot spots of the camp-fires were fading out in the gradually lightening streets. The greying faces of the soldiers and the workers with rifles were concentrated and unusual. If there were astrologers in Petrograd, they must have observed portentous signs in the heavens. The capital awoke under a new power. The everyday people, the functionaries, the intellectuals, cut off from the arena of events, rushed for the papers early to find out to which shore the wave had tossed during the night. But it was not easy to make out what had happened. To be sure, the papers reported the seizure by conspirators of the Winter Palace and the ministers, but only as a passing episode. Kerensky has gone to headquarters; the fate of the government will be decided by the front. Reports of the Soviet Congress reproduce only the declarations of the Right Wing, enumerate those who withdrew, and expose the impotence of those who remained. The political editorials, written before the seizure of the Winter Palace, exude a cloudless optimism. The rumours of the street do not wholly coincide with the tone of the newspapers. Whatever you say, the ministers are after all locked up in the fortress. Reinforcements from Kerensky are not yet in sight. Functionaries and officers confer anxiously. Journalists and lawyers ring each other up. Editors try to collect their thoughts. The drawing-room oracles say: “We must surround the usurpers with a blockade of universal contempt.” Storekeepers don’t know whether to do business or refrain. The new authorities give orders to do business. The restaurants open; the tramcars move; the banks languish with evil forebodings; the seismograph of the Stock Exchange describes a convulsive curve. Of course the Bolsheviks will not hold out long, but they may do damage before they tumble. The reactionary French journalist, Claude Anet, wrote on this day: “The victors are singing a song of victory. And quite rightly too. Among all these blabbers they alone acted ... Today they are reaping the harvest. Bravo! Fine work.” The Mensheviks estimated the situation quite otherwise “Twenty-four hours have passed since the ‘victory’ of the Bolsheviks,” wrote Dan’s paper, “and the historic fates have already begun to take their cruel revenge ... Around them is an emptiness created by themselves ... They are isolated from all ... The entire clerical and technical machinery refuses to serve them ... They are sliding at the very moment of their triumph into the abyss.” The liberal and compromisist circles, encouraged by the sabotage of the functionaries and their own light-mindedness, believed strangely in their own impunity. They spoke and wrote of the Bolsheviks in the language of the July Days. “Hirelings of Wilhelm” – “the pockets of the Red Guard full of German marks” – “German officers in command of the insurrection.” The new government had to show these people a firm hand before they began to believe in it. The more unbridled papers were detained already on the night of the 26th. Some others were confiscated on the following day. The socialist press for the time being was spared: it was necessary to give the Left Social Revolutionaries, and also some elements of the Bolshevik party, a chance to convince themselves of the groundlessness of the hope for coalition with the official democracy. The Bolsheviks developed their victory amid sabotage and chaos. A provisional military headquarters, organised during the night, undertook the defence of Petrograd in case of an attack from Kerensky. Military telephone men were sent to the central exchange where a strike had begun. It was proposed to the armies that they create their own military revolutionary committees. Gangs of agitators and organisers, freed by the victory, were sent to the front and to the provinces. The central organ of the party wrote: “The Petrograd Soviet has acted; it is the turn of the other soviets.” News came during the day which has especially disturbed the soldiers. Kornilov has escaped. As a matter of fact, the lofty captive, who had been living in Bykhov, guarded by Tekintsi, loyal to him, and kept in touch with all events by Kerensky’s headquarters, decided on the 26th that things were taking a serious turn, and without the slightest hindrance from anybody abandoned his pretended prison. The connections between Kerensky and Kornilov were thus again obviously confirmed in the eyes of the masses. The Military Revolutionary Committee summoned the soldiers and the revolutionary officers by telegram to capture both former commanders-in-chief and deliver them in Petrograd. As had the Tauride Palace in February, so now Smolny became the focal point for all functions of the capital and the state. Here all the ruling institutions had their seat. Here orders were issued and hither people came to get them. Hence a demand went out for weapons, and hither came rifles and revolvers confiscated from the enemy. Arrested people were brought in here from all ends of the city. The injured began to flow in seeking justice. The bourgeois public and its frightened cab-drivers made a great yoke-shaped detour to avoid the Smolny region. The automobile is a far more genuine sign of present-day sovereignty than the orb and sceptre. Under the régime of dual power the automobiles had been divided between the government, the Central Executive Committee and private owners. Now all confiscated motors were dragged into the camp of the insurrection. The Smolny district looked like a giant military garage. The best of automobiles smoked in those days from the low-grade petrol. Motor-cycles chugged impatiently and threateningly in the semi-darkness. Armoured-cars shrieked their sirens. Smolny seemed like a factory, a railroad and power station of the revolution. A steady flood of people poured along the sidewalks of the adjoining streets. Bonfires were burning at the outer and inner gates. By their wavering light armed workers and soldiers were belligerently inspecting passes. A number of armoured-cars stood shaking with the action of their own motors in the court. Nothing wanted to stop moving, machines or people. At each entrance stood machine-guns abundantly supplied with cartridge-belts. The endless, weakly lighted, gloomy corridors echoed with the tramping of feet, with exclamations and shouts. The arriving and departing poured up and down the broad staircase. And this solid human lava would be cut through by impatient and imperative individuals. Smolny workers, couriers, commissars, a mandate or an order lifted high in their hand, a rifle on a cord slung over their shoulder, or a portfolio under their arm. The Military Revolutionary Committee never stopped working for an instant. It received delegates, couriers, volunteer informers, devoted friends, and scoundrels. It sent commissars to all corners of the town, set innumerable seals upon orders and commands and credentials – all this in the midst of intersecting inquiries, urgent communications, the ringing of telephone bells and the rattle of weapons. People utterly exhausted of their force, long without sleep or eating, unshaven, in dirty linen, with inflamed eyes, would shout in hoarse voices, gesticulate fantastically, and if they did not fall half dead on the floor, it seemed only thanks to the surrounding chaos which whirled them about and carried them away again on its unharnessed wings. Adventurers, crooks, the worst off-scouring of the old régime, would sniff about and try to get a pass to Smolny. Some of them succeeded. They knew some little secret of administration: Who has the key to the diplomatic correspondence, how to write an order on the treasury, where to get gasoline or a typewriter, and especially where the best court wines are kept. They did not all find their cell or bullet immediately. Never since the creation of the world have so many orders been issued – by word of mouth by pencil, by typewriter, by wire, one following after the other – thousands and myriads of orders, not always issued by those having the right, and rarely to those capable of carrying them out. But just here lay the miracle – that in this crazy whirlpool there turned out to be an inner meaning. People managed to understand each other. The most important and necessary things got done. Replacing the old web of administration, the first threads of the new were strung, The revolution grew in strength. During that day, the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks was at work in Smolny. It was deciding the problem of the new government of Russia. No minutes were kept – or they have not been preserved. Nobody was bothering about future historians, although a lot of trouble was being prepared for them right there. The evening session of the Congress was to create a cabinet of ministers. M-i-n-i-s-t-e-r-s? ’What a sadly compromised word! It stinks of the high bureaucratic career, the crowning of some parliamentary ambition. It was decided to call the government the Soviet of People’s Commissars: that at least had a fresher sound. Since the negotiations for a coalition of the “entire democracy” had come to nothing, the question of the party and personal staff of the government was simplifled. The Left Social Revolutionaries minced and objected. Having just broken with the party of Kerensky, they themselves hardly knew what they wanted to do. The Central Committee adopted the motion of Lenin as the only thinkable one: to form a government of Bolsheviks only. Martov knocked at the door of this session in the capacity of intercessor for the arrested socialist ministers. Not so long ago he had been interceding with the socialist ministers for the imprisoned Bolsheviks. The wheel had made quite a sizeable turn. Through one of its members sent out to Martov for negotiations – most probably Kamenev – the Central Committee confirmed the statement that the socialist ministers would be transferred to house arrest. Apparently they had been forgotten in the rush of business, or perhaps had themselves declined privileges, adhering even in the Trubetskoy Bastion to the principle of ministerial solidarity. The Congress opened its session at nine o’clock in the evening. “The picture on the whole was but little different from yesterday – fewer weapons, less of a jam.” Sukhanov, now no longer a delegate, was able to find himself a free seat as one of the public. This session was to decide the questions of peace, land and government. Only three questions: end the war, give the land to the people, establish a socialist dictatorship. Kamenev began with a report of the work done by the præsidium during the day the death penalty at the front introduced by Kerensky abolished; complete freedom of agitation restored; orders given for the liberation of soldiers imprisoned for political convictions, and members of land committees; all the commissars of the Provisional Government removed from office; orders given to arrest and deliver Kerensky and Kornilov. The Congress approved and ratified these measures. Again some remnants of remnants took the floor, to the impatient disapproval of the hall. One group announced that they were withdrawing “at the moment of the victory of the insurrection and not at the moment of its defeat.” Others bragged of the fact that they had decided to remain. A representative of the Donetz miners urged immediate measures to prevent Kaledin from cutting the north off from coal. Some time must pass, however, before the revolution learns to take measures of such scope. Finally it becomes possible to take up the first point on the order of the day. Lenin, whom the Congress has not yet seen, is given the floor for a report on peace. His appearance in the tribune evokes a tumultuous greeting. The trench delegates gaze with all their eyes at this mysterious being whom they had been taught to hate and whom they have learned without seeing him to love. “Now Lenin, gripping the edges of the reading-stand, let little winking eyes travel over the crowd as he stood there waiting, apparently oblivious to the long-rolling ovation, which lasted several minutes. When it finished, he said simply, ‘We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order.’” The minutes of the Congress are not preserved. The Parliamentary stenographers, invited in to record the debates, had abandoned Smolny, along with the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries. That was one of the first episodes in the campaign of sabotage. The secretarial notes have been lost without a trace in the abyss of events. There remain only the hasty and tendentious newspaper reports, written to the tune of the artillery or the grinding of teeth in the political struggle. Lenin’s speeches have suffered especially. Owing to his swift delivery and the complicated construction of his sentences, they are not easily recorded even in more favourable conditions. That initial statement which John Reed puts in the mouth of Lenin does not appear in any of the newspaper accounts. But it is wholly in the spirit of the orator. Reed could not have made it up. Just in that way Lenin must surely have begun his speech at the Congress of Soviets – simply, without unction, with inflexible confidence: “We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order.” But for this it was first of all necessary to end the war. From his exile in Switzerland Lenin had thrown out the slogan: Convert the imperialist war into a civil war. Now it was time to convert the victorious civil war into peace. The speaker began immediately by reading the draft of a declaration to be published by the government still to be elected. The text had not been distributed, technical equipment being still very weak. The congress drank in every word of the document as pronounced. “The workers’ and peasants’ government created by the revolution of October 24-25, and resting upon the soviets of workers’, soldiers’ and peasants’ deputies, proposes to all the warring peoples and their governments to open immediate negotiations for a just, democratic peace.” Just conditions exclude annexations and indemnities. By annexations is to be understood the forceful accession of alien peoples or the retention of them against their will, either in Europe or in remote lands over the seas. “Herewith the government declares that it by no means considers the above indicated conditions of peace ultimative – that is, it agrees to examine any other conditions,” demanding only the quickest possible opening of negotiations and the absence of any secrecy in their conduct. On its part the soviet government abolishes secret diplomacy and undertakes to publish the secret treaties concluded before October 25, 1917. Everything in those treaties directed toward the accruing of profit and privilege to the Russian landlords and capitalists, and the oppression of other peoples by the Great Russians, “the government declares unconditionally and immediately annulled.” In order to enter upon negotiations, it is proposed to conclude an immediate armistice, for not less than three months at least. The workers’ and peasants’ government addresses its proposals simultaneously to “the governments and peoples of all warring countries ... especially the conscious workers of the three most advanced countries,” England, France and Germany, confident that it is they who will “help us successfully carry through the business of liberating the toilers and the exploited masses of the population from all slavery and all exploitation.” Lenin limited himself to brief comments on the text of the declaration. “We cannot ignore the governments, for then the possibility of concluding peace will be delayed ... but we have no right not to appeal at the same time to the people. The people and the governments are everywhere at variance, and we ought to help the people interfere in the matter of war and peace.” “We will, of course, defend in all possible ways our programme of peace without annexations or indemnities” but we ought not to present our conditions in the form of an ultimatum, as that will make it easier for the governments to refuse to negotiate. We will consider also every other proposal. “Consider does not mean that we will accept it.” The manifesto issued by the Compromisers on March 14 proposed to the workers of other countries to overthrow the bankers in the name of peace; however the Compromisers themselves not only did not demand the overthrow of their own bankers, but entered into league with them. “Now we have overthrown the government of the bankers.” That gives us a right to summon the other peoples to do the same. We have every hope of victory. “It must be remembered that we live not in the depths of Africa, but in Europe where everything can become quickly known.” The guarantee of victory Lenin sees, as always, in converting the national into an international revolution. “The workers’ movement will get the upper hand and lay down the road to peace and socialism.” The Left Social Revolutionaries sent up a representative to present their adherence to the declaration. Its “spirit and meaning are close and understandable to us.” The United Internationalists were for the declaration, but only on condition that it be issued by a government of the entire democracy. Lapinsky, speaking for the Polish Left Mensheviks, welcomed “the healthy proletarian realism” of the document. Dzerzhinsky for the social democracy of Poland and Lithuania, Stuchka for the social democracy of Latvia, Kapsukass for the Lithuanian social democracy, adhered to the declaration without qualification. The only objection was offered by the Bolshevik, Eremeev, who demanded that the peace conditions be given the character of an ultimatum – otherwise “they may think that we are weak, that we are afraid.” Lenin decisively, even fiercely, objected to the ultimative presentation of the conditions: In that way, he said, we will only “make it possible for our enemies to conceal the whole truth from the people, to hide the truth behind our irreconcilability.” You say that “our not presenting an ultimatum will show our impotence.” It is time to have done with bourgeois falsities in politics. “We need not be afraid of telling the truth about our weariness ...” The future disagreements of Brest-Litovsk gleam out for a moment already in this episode. Kamenev asked all who were for the proclamation to raise their delegates’ cards. ’One delegate,” writes Reed, “dared to raise his hand against, but the sudden sharp outburst around him brought it swiftly down.” The appeal to the peoples and governments was adopted unanimously. The deed was done! And it impressed all the participants by its close and immediate magnitude. Sukhanov, an attentive although also prejudiced observer, noticed more than once at that first session the listlessness of the Congress. Undoubtedly the delegates – like all the people, indeed – were tired of meetings, congresses, speeches, resolutions, tired of the whole business of marking time. They had no confidence that this Congress would be able and know how to carry the thing through to the end. Will not the gigantic size of the task and the insuperable opposition compel them to back down this time too? An influx of confidence had come with the news of the capture of the Winter Palace, and afterward with the coming over of the bicycle men to the insurrection. But both these facts still had to do with the mechanics of insurrection. Only now was its historic meaning becoming clear in action. The victorious insurrection had built under this congress of workers and soldiers an indestructible foundation of power. The delegates were voting this time not for a resolution, not for a proclamation, but for a governmental act of immeasurable significance. Listen, nations! The revolution offers you peace. It will be accused of violating treaties. But of this it is proud. To break up the leagues of bloody predation is the greatest historic service. The Bolsheviks have dared to do it. They alone have dared. Pride surges up of its own accord. Eyes shine. All are on their feet. No one is smoking now. It seems as though no one breathes. The præsidium, the delegates, the guests, the sentries, join in a hymn of insurrection and brotherhood. “Suddenly, by common impulse,” – the story will soon be told by John Reed, observer and participant, chronicler and poet of the insurrection – “we found ourselves on our feet, mumbling together into the smooth lifting unison of the Internationale. A grizzled old soldier was sobbing like a child. Alexandra Kollontai rapidly winked the tears back. The immense sound rolled through the hall, burst windows and doors and soared into the quiet sky.” Did it go altogether into the sky? Did it not go also to the autumn trenches, that hatch-work upon unhappy, crucified Europe, to her devastated cities and villages, to her mothers and wives in mourning? “Arise ye prisoners of starvation! Arise ye wretched of the earth!” The words of the song were freed of all qualifications. They fused with the decree of the government, and hence resounded with the force of a direct act. Everyone felt greater and more important in that hour. The heart of the revolution enlarged to the width of the whole world. “We will achieve emancipation. The spirit of independence, of initiative, of daring, those joyous feelings of which the oppressed in ordinary conditions are deprived – the revolution had brought them now ... with our own hand!” The omnipotent hand of those millions who had overthrown the monarchy and the bourgeoisie would now strangle the war. The Red Guard from the Vyborg district, the grey soldier with his scar, the old revolutionist who had served his years at hard labour, the young black-bearded sailor from the Aurora – all vowed to carry through to the end this “last and deciding fight.” “We will build our own new world!” We will build! In that word eagerly spoken from the heart was included already the future years of the civil war and the coming five-year periods of labour and privation. “Who was nothing shall be all!” All If the actualities of the past have often been turned into song, why shall not a song be turned into the actuality of the future? Those trenchcoats no longer seemed the costumes of galley-slaves. The papakhi with their holes and torn cotton took a new aspect above those gleaming eyes. “The race of man shall rise again!” Is it possible to believe that it will not rise from the misery and humiliation, the blood and filth of this war? “The whole præsidium, with Lenin at its head, stood and sang with excited enraptured faces and shining eyes.” Thus testifies a sceptic, gazing with heavy feelings upon an alien triumph. “How much I wanted to join it,” confesses Sukhanov, “to fuse in one feeling and mood with that mass and its leaders! But I could not.” The last sound of the anthem died away, but the Congress remained standing, a fused human mass enchanted by the greatness of that which they had experienced. And the eyes of many rested on the short, sturdy figure of the man in the tribune with his extraordinary head, his high cheekbones and simple features, altered now by the shaved beard, and with that gaze of his small, slightly Mongol eyes which looked straight through everything. For four months he had been absent. His very name had almost separated itself from any living image. But no. He was not a myth. There he stood among his own – how many now of “his own” – holding the sheets of a message of peace to the peoples of the world in his hand. Even those nearest, those who knew well his place in the party, for the first time fully realised what he meant to the revolution, to the people, to the peoples. It was he who had taught them; it was he who had brought them up. Somebody’s voice from the depth of the hall shouted a word of greeting to the leader. The hall seemed only to have awaited the signal. Long live Lenin! The anxieties endured, the doubts overcome, pride of initiative, triumph of victory, gigantic hopes – all poured out together in one volcanic eruption of gratitude and rapture. The sceptical observer dryly remarks: “Undoubted enthusiasm of mood. They greeted Lenin, shouted hurrah, threw their caps in the air. They sang the Funeral March in memory of the victims of the war – and again applause, shouts, throwing of caps in the air.” What the Congress experienced during those minutes was experienced on the next day, although less compactly, by the whole country. “It must be said,” writes Stankevich, in his memoirs, “that the bold gesture of the Bolsheviks, their ability to step over the barbed-wire entanglements which had for four years divided us from the neighbouring peoples, created of itself an enormous impression.” Baron Budberg expresses himself more crudely but no less succinctly in his diary: “The new government of Comrade Lenin went off with a decree for immediate peace ... This was now an act of genius for bringing the soldier masses to his side: I saw this in the mood of several regiments which I made the rounds of today; the telegram of Lenin on an immediate three months’ armistice and then peace, created a colossal impression everywhere, and evoked stormy joy. We have now lost the last chance of saving the front.” By saving the front which they had ruined, those men had long ceased to mean anything but saving their own social positions. If the revolution had had the determination to step over the barbed-wire entanglements in March and April, it might still have soldered the army together for a time – provided the army was at the same time reduced to half or a third its size – and thus created for its foreign policy a position of exceptional force. But the hour of courageous action struck only in October, when to save even a part of the army for even a short period was unthinkable. The new government had to load upon itself the debt, not only for the war of czarism, but also for the spendthrift lightmindedness of the Provisional Government. In this dreadful, and for all other parties hopeless, situation, only Bolshevism could lead the country out on an open road – having uncovered through the October revolution inexhaustible resources of national energy. Lenin is again in the tribune – this time with the little sheets of a decree on land. He begins with an indictment of the overthrown government and the compromisist parties, who by dragging out the land question have brought the country to a peasant revolt. “Their talk about pogroms and anarchy in the country rings false with cowardly deceit. Where and when have pogroms and anarchy been caused by ‘reasonable measures?’ The draft of the decree has not been multigraphed for distribution. The speaker has the sole rough draft in his hands, and it is written so badly” – Sukhanov remembers – “that Lenin stumbles in the reading, gets mixed up, and finally stops entirely. Somebody from the crowd jammed around the tribune comes to his help. Lenin eagerly yields his place and the undecipherable paper.” These rough spots did not, however, in the eyes of that plebeian parliament diminish by an iota the grandeur of which was taking place. The essence of the decree is contained in two lines of the first point: “The landlord’s property in the land is annulled immediately and without any indemnity whatever. The landlord, appanage, monastery and church estates with all their goods and chattels are given in charge of the town land committees and county soviets of peasant deputies until the Constituent Assembly. The confiscated property is placed as a national possession under the protection of the local soviets. The land of the rank-and-file peasants and rank-and-file Cossacks is protected against confiscation.” The whole decree does not come to more than thirty lines. It smashes the Gordian knot with a hammer. To the fundamental text certain broader instructions are adjoined, borrowed wholly from the peasants themselves. In Izvestia of the Peasant Soviet there had been printed on August 19 a summary of 242 instructions given by the electors to their representatives at the First Congress of Peasant Deputies. Notwithstanding that it was the Social Revolutionaries who prepared these collated instructions, Lenin did not hesitate to attach the document in its entirety to his decree “for guidance in carrying out the great land transformation.” The collated instructions read: “The right to private property in the land is annulled for ever.” “The right to use the land is accorded to all citizens ... desiring to cultivate it with their own labour.” “Hired labour is not permitted.” “The use of the land must be equalised – that is, the land is to be divided among the toilers according to local conditions on the basis of standards either of labour or consumption.” Under a continuation of the bourgeois régime, to say nothing of a coalition with the landlords, these Social Revolutionary instructions remained a lifeless Utopia, where they did not become a conscious lie. Even under the rule of the proletariat, they did not become realisable in all their sections. But the destiny of the instructions radically changed with a change in the attitude toward them of the governmental power. The workers’ state gave the peasants a period in which to try out their self-contradictory programme in action. “The peasants want to keep their small properties,” wrote Lenin in August, “standardise them on a basis of equality, and periodically re-equalise them. Let them do it. No reasonable socialist will break with the peasant poor on that ground. If the lands are confiscated, that means that the rule of the banks is undermined – if the equipment is confiscated, that means that the rule of capital is undermined. The rest ... with a transfer of political power to the proletariat ... will be suggested by practice.” A great many people, and not only enemies but friends, have failed to understand this far-sighted, and to a certain extent pedagogical, approach of the Bolshevik Party to the peasantry and its agrarian programme. The equal distribution of the land – objected Rosa Luxembourg for example – has nothing in common with socialism. The Bolsheviks, it goes without saying, had no illusion upon this point. On the contrary, the very construction of the decree bears witness to the critical vigilance of the legislator. Whereas the collated instructions say that all the land, both that of the landlords and the peasants, “is converted into national property,” the basic decree does not commit itself at all as to the new form of property in the land. Even a none too pedantic jurist would be horrified at the fact that the nationalisation of the land, a new social principle of world-historic importance, is inaugurated in the form of a list of instructions adjoined to a basic law. But there was no reactionary slovenliness here. Lenin wanted as little as possible to tie the hands of the party and the soviet power a priori in a still unexplored historic realm. Here again he united unexampled audacity with the greatest caution. It still remained to determine in experience how the peasants themselves would understand the conversion of the land into “the property of the whole people.” Having made so long a dash forward, it was necessary to fortify the positions also in case a retreat should become necessary. The distribution of the landlord’s land among the peasants, while not in itself a guarantee against bourgeois counter-revolution, made impossible in any case a feudal-monarchic restoration. It would be possible to speak of socialist perspectives only after the establishment and successful preservation of the proletarian power. And this power could preserve itself only by giving determined co-operation to the peasant in carrying out his revolution. If the distribution of the land would strengthen the socialist government politically, it was then wholly justified as an immediate measure. The peasant had to be taken as the revolution found him. Only a new régime could re-educate him – and not at once, but in the course of a generation, with the help of a new technique and a new organisation of industry. The decree together with the instructions meant that the dictatorship of the proletariat assumed an obligation not only to take an attentive attitude toward the interests of the land labourer, but also to be patient of his illusions as a petty proprietor. It was clear in advance that there would be a number of stages and turning-points in the agrarian revolution. The collated instructions were anything but the last word. They represented merely a starting-point which the workers agreed to occupy while helping the peasants to realise their progressive demands, and warning them against false steps. “We must not ignore,” said Lenin in his speech, “the resolutions of the lower ranks of the people, even though we are not in agreement with them ... We must give full freedom to the creative capacity of the popular masses. The essence of the thing is that the peasantry should have full confidence that there are no more landlords in the country, and let the peasants themselves decide all questions and build their own life.” Opportunism? No. it was revolutionary realism. Before even the applause was over, a Right Social Revolutionary, Pianykh, arrived from the Peasants’ Executive Committee and took the floor with a furious protest on the subject of the socialist ministers being under arrest. “During the last days,” cried the orator pounding the table as though beside himself, “a thing is on foot which has never happened in any revolution. Our comrades, members of the Executive Committee, Maslov and Salazkin, are locked up in a prison. We demand their immediate release!” “If one hair falls from their heads ...” threatened another messenger in a military coat. To the Congress they both seemed like visitors from another world. At the moment of the insurrection there were about 800 men in prison in Dvinsk, charged with Bolshevism, in Minsk about 6,000, in Kiev 535 – for the most part soldiers. And how many members of the peasant committees were under lock and key in various parts of the country! Finally a good share of the delegates to this very Congress, beginning with the præsidium, had passed through the prisons of Kerensky since July. No wonder the indignation of the friends of the Provisional Government could not pluck at any heart-strings in this assembly. To complete their bad luck a certain delegate, unknown to anybody, a peasant from Tver, with long hair and a big sheepskin coat, rose in his place, and having bowed politely to all four points of the compass, adjured the Congress in the name of his electors not to hesitate at arresting Avksentiev’s executive committee as a whole: “Those are not peasants’ deputies, but Kadets. ... Their place is in prison.” So they stood facing each other, these two figures: The Social Revolutionary Pianykh, experienced parliamentarian, favourite of ministers, hater of Bolsheviks, and the nameless peasant from Tver who had brought Lenin a hearty salute from his electors. Two social strata, two revolutions: Pianykh was speaking in the name of February, the Tver peasant was fighting for October. The Congress gave the delegate in a sheepskin coat a veritable ovation. The emissaries of the Executive Committee went away swearing. “The resolution of Lenin is greeted by the Social Revolutionary faction as a triumph of their ideas,” announces Kalegaev, but in view of the extraordinary importance of the question we must take it up in caucus. A Maximalist, representative of the extreme left wing of the disintegrated Social Revolutionary party, demands an immediate vote: “We ought to give honour to a party which on the very first day and without any blabber brings such a measure to life.” Lenin insisted that the intermission should be at any rate as short as possible. “News so important to Russia should be in print by morning. No filibustering!” The decree on land was not only, indeed, the foundation of the new régime, but also a weapon of the revolution, which had still to conquer the country. It is not surprising that Reed records at that moment an imperative shout breaking through the noise of the hall: “Fifteen agitators wanted in room 17 at once! To go to the front!” At one o’clock in the morning a delegate from the Russian troops in Macedonia enters a complaint that the Petersburg governments one after the other have forgotten them. Support for peace and land from the soldiers in Macedonia is assured! Here is a new test of the mood of the army – this time from a far corner of south-eastern Europe. And here Kamenev announces: The Tenth Bicycle Battalion, summoned by the government from the front, entered Petrograd this morning, and like its predecessors has adhered to the Congress of Soviets. The warm applause testifies that no amount of these confirmations of its power will seem excessive to the Congress. After the adoption, unanimously and without debate, of a resolution declaring it an affair of honour of the local soviets not to permit Jewish or any other pogroms on the part of the criminal element, a vote is taken on the draft of the land law. With one vote opposed and eight abstaining, the congress adopts with a new burst of enthusiasm the decree putting an end to serfdom, the very foundation stone of the old Russian culture. Henceforlh the agrarian revolution is legalised, and therewith the revolution of the proletariat acquires a mighty basis. A last problem remains: the creation of a government. Kamenev reads a proposal drawn up by the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks. The management of the various branches of the state life is allotted to commissions who are to carry into action the programme announced by the Congress of Soviets “in close union with the mass organisation of working men and women, sailors, soldiers, peasants and clerical employees.” The governmental power is concentrated in the hands of a collegium composed of the presidents of these commissions, to be called the Soviet of People’s Commissars. Control over the activities of the government is vested in the Congress of Soviets and its Central Executive Committee. Seven members of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party were nominated to the first Council of People’s Commissars: Lenin as head of the government, without portfolio; Rykov as People’s Commissar of the Interior; Miliutin as head of the Department of Agriculture; Nogin as chief of Commerce and Industry; Trotsky as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Lomov of Justice; Stalin, president of a Commission on the Affairs of the Nationalities; Military and naval affairs were allotted to a committee consisting of Antonov-Ovseönko, Krylenko and Dybenko; the head of the Commissariat of Labour is to be Shliapnikov; the chief of the Department of Education, Lunacharsky; the heavy and ungrateful task of Minister of Provisions is laid upon Theodorovich; the Posts and Telegraph upon the worker, Glebov; the position of People’s Commissar of Communications is not yet allotted, the door being left open here for an agreement with the organisations of the railroad workers. All fifteen candidates, four workers and eleven intellectuals have behind them years of imprisonment, exile and emigrant life. Five of them have been imprisoned even under the régime of the democratic republic. The future prime minister had only the day before emerged from the democratic underground. Kamenev and Zinoviev did not enter the Council of People’s Commissars. The former was selected for president of the new Central Executive Committee, the latter for editor of the official organ of the soviets. “As Kamenev read the list of Commissars,” writes Reed, there were “bursts of applause after each name, Lenin’s and Trotsky’s especially.” Sukhanov adds also that of Lunacharsky. A long speech against the proposed staff of the government was made by a representative of the United Internationalists. Avilov, once a Bolshevik, a littérateur from Gorky’s paper. He conscientiously enumerated the difficulties standing before the revolution in the sphere of domestic and foreign politics. We must “clearly realise ... whither we are going ... Before the new government stand all the old questions: of bread and of peace. If it does not solve these problems it will be overthrown.” There is little grain in the country; it is in the hands of the well-to-do peasants; there is nothing to give in exchange for grain; industry is on the decline; fuel and raw material are lacking. To collect the grain by force is a difficult, long and dangerous task. It is necessary, therefore, to create a government which will have the sympathy not only of the poor but also of the well-to-do peasantry. For this a coalition is necessary. “It will be still harder to obtain peace.” The governments of the Entente will not answer the proposal of the congress for an immediate armistice. Even without that the Allied ambassadors are planning to leave. The new government will be isolated: its peace initiative will be left hanging in the air. The popular masses of the warring countries are still far from revolution. The consequences may be two: either extermination of the revolution by the troops of the Hohenzollern or a separate peace. The peace terms in both cases can only be the worst possible for Russia. These difficulties can be met only by “a majority of the people.” The unfortunate thing is the split in the democracy: the left half wants to create a purely Bolshevik government in Smolny, and the right half is organising in the city duma a Committee of Public Safety. To save the revolution it is necessary to form a government from both groups. A representative of the Left Social Revolutionaries, Karelin, spoke to the same effect. It is impossible to carry out the programme adopted without those parties which have withdrawn from the Congress. To be sure “the Bolsheviks are not to blame for their withdrawal.” But the programme of the congress ought to unite the entire democracy. “We do not want to take the road of isolating the Bolsheviks, for we understand that with the fate of the Bolsheviks is bound up the fate of the whole revolution. Their ruin will be the ruin of the revolution. If they, the Left Social Revolutionaries, have nevertheless declined the invitation to enter the government, their purpose is a good one: to keep their hands free for mediation between the Bolsheviks and the parties which have abandoned the Congress. In such mediations ... the Left Social Revolutionaries see their principal task at the present moment.” The Left Social Revolutionaries will support the work of the new government in solving urgent problems. At the same time they vote against the proposed government. – In a word the young party has got mixed up as badly as it knows how. “Trotsky rose to defend a government of Bolsheviks only,” writes Sukhanov, himself wholly in sympathy with Avilov and having inspired Karelin behind the scenes. “He was very clear, sharp, and in much absolutely right. But he refused to understand in what consisted the centre of the argument of his opponents ...” The centre of the argument consisted of an ideal diagonal. In March they had tried to draw it between the bourgeoisie and the compromisist soviets. Now Sukhanov dreamed of a diagonal between the compromisist democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat. But revolutions do not develop along diagonals. “They have tried to frighten us more than once with a possible isolation of the Left Wing,” said Trotsky. “Some days back when the question of insurrection was first openly raised, they told us that we were headed for destruction. And in reality if you judged the grouping of forces by the political press, then insurrection threatened us with inevitable ruin. Against us stood not only the counter-revolutionary bands, but also the defensists of all varieties. The Left Social Revolutionaries, only one wing of them courageously worked with us in the Military Revolutionary Committee. The rest occupied a position of watchful neutrality. And nevertheless even with these unfavourable circumstances and when it seemed that we were abandoned by all, the insurrection triumphed ... “If the real forces were actually against us, how could it happen that we won the victory almost without bloodshed. No, it is not we who are isolated, but the government and the so called democrats. With their wavering, their compromising, they have erased themselves from the ranks of the authentic democracy. Our great superiority as a party lies in the fact that we have formed a coalition with the class forces, creating a union of the workers and poorest peasants. “Political groupings disappear, but the fundamental interests of the classes remain. That party conquers which is able to feel out and satisfy the fundamental demands of a class ... We pride ourselves upon the coalition of our garrison, chiefly composed of peasants, with the working class. This coalition has been tried by fire. The Petrograd garrison and proletariat went hand in hand into that great struggle which is the classic example in the history of revolutions among all peoples. “Avilov has spoken of the vast difficulties which stand before us. To remove those difficulties he proposes that we form a coalition. But he makes no attempt to lay bare his formula and tell us what coalition. A coalition of groups, or classes, or simply a coalition of newspapers? ... “They tell us the split in the democracy is a misunderstanding. When Kerensky is sending shock troops against us, when with the consent of the Central Executive Committee we are deprived of the telephone at the most critical moment of our struggle with the bourgeoisie, when they deal us blow after blow – is it possible to talk of misunderstanding? “Avilov says to us: There is little bread, we must have a coalition with the defensists. Do you imagine that this coalition will increase the quantity of bread? The problem of bread is the problem of a programme of action. The struggle with economic collapse demands a definite system from below, and not political groupings on top. “Avilov speaks of a union with the peasantry: But again of what peasantry is he talking? Today and right here, a representative of the peasants of Tver province demanded the arrest of Avksentiev. We must choose between this Tver peasant and Avksentiev who has filled the prisons with members of the peasant committees. A coalition with the kulak elements of the peasantry we firmly reject in the name of a coalition of the working class and the poorer peasant. We are with the Tver peasants against Avksentiev. We are with them to the end and inseparably. “Whoever now chases the shadow of coalition is totally cutting himself off from life. The Social Revolutionaries will lose support among the masses to the extent that they venture to oppose our party. Every group which opposes the party of the proletariat, with whom the village poor have united, cuts himself off from the revolution. “Openly and before the face of the whole people we raised the banner of insurrection. The political formula of this insurrection was: All power to the soviets – through the Congress of Soviets. They tell us: You did not await the Congress with your uprising. We thought of waiting, but Kerensky would not wait. The counter-revolutionists were not dreaming. We as a party considered this our task: to make it genuinely possible for the Congress of Soviets to seize the power. If the Congress had been surrounded with junkers, how could it have seized the power? In order to achieve this task, a party was needed which would wrench the power from the hands of the counter-revolution and say to you: ‘Here is the power and you’ve got to take it!’ (Stormy and prolonged applause) “Notwithstanding that the defensists of all shades stopped at nothing in their struggle against us, we did not throw them out. We proposed to the Congress as a whole to take the power. How utterly you distort the perspective, when after all that has happened you talk from this tribune of our irreconcilability. When a party surrounded with a cloud of gunpowder smoke, comes up to them and says, ‘Let us take the power together!’ they run to the city duma and unite there with open counter-revolutionists! They are traitors to the revolution with whom we will never unite “‘For the struggle for peace’, says Avilov, ‘we must have a coalition with the Compromisers.’ At the same time he acknowledges that the Allies do not want to make peace ... The Allied imperialists laughed, says Avilov, at the oleomargarine delegate Skobelev. Nevertheless if you form a bloc with the oleomargarine democrats, the cause of peace is assured! “There are two roads in the struggle for peace. One road is to oppose to the Allied and enemy governments the moral and material force of revolution. The other is a bloc with Skobelev, which means a bloc with Tereshchenko and complete subjection to Allied imperialism. In our proclamation on peace we address ourselves simultaneously to the governments and the peoples. That is purely formal symmetry, Of course we do not think to influence the imperialist governments with our proclamations, although as long as they exist we cannot ignore them. We rest all our hope on the possibility that our revolution will unleash the European revolution. If the revolting peoples of Europe do not crush imperialism, then we will be crushed – that is indubitable. Either the Russian revolution will raise the whirlwind of struggle in the west, or the capitalists of all countries will crush our revolution ...” “There is a third road,” says a voice from the benches. “The third road,” answers Trotsky, “is the road of the Central Executive Committee – on the one hand sending delegates to the west European workers, and on the other forming a union with the Kishkins and Konovalovs. That is a road of lies and hypocrisy which we will never enter. “Of course we do not say that only the day of insurrection of the European workers will be the day that the peace treaty is signed. This also is possible: that the bourgeoisie, frightened by an approaching insurrection of the oppressed, will hasten to make peace. The dates are not set. The concrete forms cannot be foretold. It is important and it is necessary to define the method of struggle, a method identical in principle both in foreign and domestic politics. A union of the oppressed here and everywhere – that is our road.” The delegates of the Congress, says John Reed, “greeted him with an immense crusading acclaim, kindling to the daring of it, with the thought of championing mankind.” At any rate it could not have entered the minds of any Bolshevik at that time to protest against placing the fate of the Soviet Republic, in an official speech in the name of the Bolshevik Party, in direct dependence upon the development of the international revolution. The dramatic law of this Congress was that each significant act was concluded or even interrupted, by a short intermission during which a figure from the other camp would suddenly appear upon the stage and voice a protest, or a threat, or present an ultimatum. A representative of the Vikzhel, the executive committee of the railroad workers’ union, now demanded the floor immediately and on the instant. He must needs throw a bomb into the assembly before the vote was taken on the question of power. The speaker – in whose face Reed saw implacable hostility – began with an accusation. His organisation, “the strongest in Russia,” had not been invited to the congress ... “It was the Central Executive Committee that did not invite you,” was shouted at him from all sides. But he continued: And be it known that the original decision of the Vikzhel to support the Congress of Soviets has been revoked. The speaker hastened to read an ultimatum already distributed by telegraph throughout the country: The Vikzhel condemns the seizure of power by one party; the government ought to be responsible before the “entire revolutionary democracy”; until the creation of a democratic government only the Vikzhel will control the railroad lines. The speaker adds that counterrevolutionary troops will not be admitted to Petrograd; but in general the movement of troops will henceforth take place only at the direction of the old Central Executive Committee. In case of repressions directed against the railroad workers, the Vikzhel will deprive Petrograd of food. The Congress bristled under the blow. The chiefs of the railroad union were trying to converse with the representatives of the people as one government with another! When the workers, soldiers, and peasants take the administration of the state into their hands, the Vikzhel presumes to give commands to the workers, soldiers, and peasants! It wants to change into petty cash the overthrown system of dual power. In thus attempting to rely not upon its numbers, but upon the exceptional significance of railroads in the economy and culture of the country, these democrats of the Vikzhel exposed the whole frailty of the criterion of formal democracy upon the fundamental issues of a social struggle. Truly revolution has a genius for education! At any rate the moment for this blow was not badly chosen by the Compromisers, The faces of the præsidium were troubled. Fortunately the Vikzhel was by no means unconditional boss on the railroads. In the local districts the railroad workers were members of the city soviets. Even here at the congress the ultimatum of the Vikzhel met resistance. “The whole mass of the railroad workers of our district,” said the delegate from Tashkent, “have expressed themselves in favour of the transfer of power to the soviets.” Another delegate from railroad workers declared the Vikzhel a “political corpse.” That doubtless was exaggerated. Relying upon the rather numerous upper layers of railroad clerks, the Vikzhel had preserved more life force than the other higher-up organisations of the Compromisers. But it belonged indubitably to the same type as the army committees or the Central Executive Committee. Its star was swiftly falling. The workers were everywhere distinguishing themselves from the clerical employees; the lower clerks were opposing themselves to the higher. The impudent ultimatum of the Vikzhel would undoubtedly hasten these processes. No, the station masters can’t hold back the locomotive of the October revolution! “There can be no questioning the legal rights of this Congress,” declared Kamenev with authority. “The quorum of the Congress was established not by us, but by the old Central Executive Committee ... The Congress is the highest organ of the workers and soldier masses.” A simple return to the order of the day! The Council of People’s Commissars was ratified by an overwhelming majority. Avilov’s resolution, according to the excessively generous estimate of Sukhanov, got 150 votes, chiefly Left Social Revolutionaries. The Congress then unanimously confirmed the membership of the new Central Executive Committee: out of 101 members – 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Social Revolutionaries. The Central Executive Committee was to complete itself in the future with representatives of the peasant soviets and the re-elected army organisations. The factions who had abandoned the Congress were granted the right to send their delegates to the Central Executive Committee on the basis of proportional representation. The agenda of the Congress was completed! The Soviet government was created. It had its programme. The work could begin. And there was no lack of it. At 5.15 in the morning Kamenev closed the Constituent Congress of the Soviet régime. To the stations! Home! To the front! To the factories and barracks! To the mines and the far-off villages In the decrees of the Soviet, the delegates will carry the leaven of the proletarian revolution to all corners of the country. On that morning the central organ of the Bolshevik Party, again under the old name Pravda, wrote: “They wanted us to take the power alone, so that we alone should have to contend with the terrible difficulties confronting the country ... So be it! We take the power alone, relying upon the voice of the country and counting upon the friendly help of the European proletariat. But having taken the power, we will deal with the enemies of revolution and its saboteurs with an iron hand. They dreamed of a dictatorship of Kornilov ... We will give them the dictatorship of the proletariat ...” 1. Tall fur hats. Last updated on: 25 December 2014
Obtain All Ratchet & Clank Trophies Achieve all the 34 trophies listed below, and this will be yours. Gather All 40 Golden Bolts throughout the game The Gold Bolts are used to buy Gold Weapons. After you kill Drek, start a new game with your weapons, and you will get a Goodies in your Start Menu. When you have found the 40 Gold Bolts and bought all the Gold Weapons, you will unlock 'The Video of the Making Of', in the 'Goodies' section. Master all 30 skill points After you kill Drek, start a new game with your weapons, and you will get 'Goodies' section in your Start Menu. There you will find the Skill Points, and you will know on what planet on you can get them, a title that help you find it and which one you have done or need to do. When you have all the Skill Points, you will unlock 'Epilogue' section in the ‘Goodies’. Ratchet, King Midas Obtain all ten gold weapons Gold weapons were the improved and enhanced versions of a certain amount of weapons. Gold bolts and a varying amount of regular bolts were required in order to purchase them at Gold weapon armories. Below I have written the locations for the teleporters, that leads to the place where you can buy the golden weapons. - At the Gemlik Moonbase in the observation tower This shop is in a high building towards the end of the planet. It is down the run way where you beat Qwark in the jet fighter battle. The tower has a jump slot. Use the jump technique to move from one wall to the other until you get to the small platform above. Then take the elevator. - At the Tobruk Crater on Novalis, after completing the game. This place appears when you beat the game and play it a second time over. There will already be a transportation pad right next to your ship. Go into it and you will be in the secret room. Defeat Chairman Drek This trophy is story related and cannot be missed. You start the fight as Giant Clank. Once his first health slot, Drek will shrink you and run. Go after him and use missiles, mines and bombs. After you do enough damage, he will run again to another platform. Repeat the same process. When you go to the next one, shut off the cannon. You will have 25 seconds, but everytime you stop it the time you have is less and less. Now Drek has new attacks - a fire ring, a large black summon and green rockets. At his last health slot, the weapons I recommend are: - Tesla Claw Beat the hoverboard challenge in less than 1:35 on Rilgar This is Skillful trophy related. This is the most difficult of the Skill Points, or at least, the one you'll spent more time. To do this, you have to miss almost none of the Boosts and use shortcuts with jumps to cut the turns (there are six turns you cut with jump and speed). Also, it is a good thing to do a trick each time you reach the Big Jump with the wall of Boxes on the next platform. You will win Boosts and you can use with Obtain the R.Y.N.O. R.Y.N.O. can be bought on Rilgare or Blackwater City and it costs 150.000 bolts. Do a "Twisty" McMarx" in the hoverboard race This is Skillful trophy related. In the Hoverboard race, take a boost, go on a Big Jump, and jump. In the jump, you will have to push the left analogic stick in the left direction, and press one after the other. To be sure you will do the 4 moves needed in the trick, press each button about 1 second. Attain 15 Skill Points to Unlock Sketchbook in Menu While going for Skillful trophy, you will unlock the sketchbook by attaining 15 Skill Points. Destroy all streetlights in Oltanis This is Skillful trophy related. Around the platform down your ship, you will see streelights. Destroy those ones, and now look in all the city for other streelights, and destroy them all with your wrench (or weapon). The swingshot path appears after you have completed all the mission of this planet. A ship will destroy the statue on the platform down your ship and a button will appear, press it and the yellow targets for swingshot will appear. Defeat Blarg Station Alien Queen using only the wrench! This is Skillful trophy related. In order to get this trophy, go in front of her to lure her and double jump to her right or left and hit her with a Hyper-Strike (like this she will try to hit you, but you will be on her side). After you hit her, go on her other side and hit her again with a Hyper-Strike (pass each time in front of her to lure her again), and repeat until she send her little monsters. With this system, you shouldn't loose life. To kill them, run to make them run after you, and when they will be all behind you, turn and do a Multi-Strike (it should kill the most of them), and finish the few that are still alive with a second Multi-Strike. Now repeat the Hyper-Strike system as before on the Main Boss until she send you the 2 bigger monsters. To kill them, run to one of them when they appear, and try to do this 3 times: do a Hyper-Strike, double jump on his side. Try to kill him as fast as possible, because the second will be soon near you too, and do the same for the second one. If you still have almost your life full before you try to kill them, it doesn't matter if you are hit a few times. After you have killed them, finish the Main Boss with the Hyper-Strike System. It appears that you must kill the Queen with your wrench only. You can kill all her minions with any weapons you want. But while you hit her minions, if you touch by mistake the Queen with other weapon than the wrench, then you will not be able to get this trophy and the Skill Point. Obtain all regular weapon gadgets The weapons you will need to have to achieve this trophy are: - Bomb Glove - Ratchet got this in the beginning of the game. - Pyrocitor - 2,500 bolts, Planet Novalis. - Blaster - 2,500 bolts, Planet Kerwan. - Glove of Doom - 7,500 bolts, Planet Eudora. - Mine Glove - 7,500 bolts, Planet Rilgar. - Suck Cannon - Free, Planet Eudora. - Taunter - 2,500 bolts, Nebula G34. - R.Y.N.O. - 150,500 bolts, Planet Rilgar. - Devastator - 10,000 bolts, Planet Batalia. - Walloper - 7,500 bolts, Planet Gaspar. - Visibomb - 15,000 bolts, Planet Pokitaru. - Decoy Glove - 7,500 bolts, Planet Pokitaru. - Drone Device - 7,500 bolts, Planet Hoven. - Tesla Claw - 40,000 bolts/30,000 with Persuader, Planet Oltanis. - Morph-O-Ray - Free, Planet Oltanis. Upgrade to Ultra Nanotech You need Premium Nanotech before you can purchase this (see Hit me More ). Ultra Nanotech costs 30.000 bolts and it can be purchased by a machine on Planet Orxon. Collect 1,000,000 Bolts This trophy is cumulative, you do not need to have 1 million bolts in your possession at once. In order to get this trophy, you will need to do everything on this game, and probably one playthrought is not enough to get 1,000,000 bolts. So, below you can see a glitch for bolts. All Qwark'd Up Defeat Captain Qwark's Ship This trophy is story related and cannot be missed. This is a jet fighter boss. Quark's ship start by shooting missiles when he has lost 1/6 of his health. He will start launching mines when he has lost 2/6 of the health. He will use a gravity beam and missiles when your not in the beam. After half of his health is gone, he will but up a shield and summon some ships. After that, he keeps firing missiles, dropping spiked mines and flying a bit faster. Save your missiles for later in the battle, it will be more easy. Use a Sand Mouse to destroy all the tanks on Batalia This is Skillful trophy related. You have to finish this level to be able to do this Skill Point and get this trophy (open all the bridges). I recommend you to destroy all the enemies (except the Tanks), and like this, none of the enemies destroy the Sand Mouse. You can find the Sand Mouse behind the building on the right, after the black platform, on the right of the one with a closed door you need to open with the Trespasser. When you have found the Sand Mouse, run to the platform that is after the broken bridge, and use the Sand Mouse to destroy this tank. Now run on the bridge this tank was, jump in the water, reach the spot with the tanks and destroy them with your Sand Mouse. Now, run on the bridge above you, enter the city, destroy the 2 tanks that turn around the pillars with your Sand Mouse, and you will get this trophy. You have to let your Sand Mouse destroy the Tanks, and never help it. Hey, Over Here! Lure an enemy into a forcefield on Orxon This is Skillful trophy related. Go near a Force Field that has enemies close behind it and use your Taunter. The enemies will try to attack you, but they will be killed by the force field and you will get this trophy. Strike a Pose! Stand between Al's Roboshack Statue's legs on Kerwan This is Skillful trophy related. To reach the statue, you need to enter the Al's Shop, Jump at the top of the boxes and take the elevator to reach the top of the building. From this building, jump down to the platform that has all these dogs-like robots and take the 2nd elevator. Destroy all the dog-like robots and the robot that uses a missiles launcher. Now, walk on your left and reach the border of the platform, look down with and you will see the Al's Roboshack statue. Use your Helipack to glide to the statue and stand between the legs to get this trophy. Blow Up 10 Vehicles on Eudora This is Skillful trophy related. Go near the traffic, and use your Blaster to destroy 10 vehicles. Simply as that. Turn a tank into a chicken on Rilgar This is Skillful trophy related. Find a tank, and go at the nearest position on a side of the tank (touch him), to be safe. Now use your Morph-o-Ray and turn this tank into a chicken. Destroy Captain Qwark training robot on Kerwan This is Skillful trophy related. Go to the statue (Quark Robot) that is at the beginning of the Challenge 'Obstacle Course' and you have to complete it to get the Swingshot, and use a Bomb to destroy it. Destroy a fighter or bomber on Novalis This is Skillful trophy related. Use the Devastator and destroy one of the ship that is in the air. Destroyed three flying transports on Aridia This is Skillful trophy related. Stay near your ship, and use the Devastator to destroy 3 of the ships that turn around this place. On Gaspar, blow up all Blarg destroyers This is Skillful trophy related. Jump to the platform that is on the right before the elevator from the start position. Use your swingshot to pass the lava and destroy all the Connections of the Destroyers you see. Don't forget the one on the right of the platform after your swingshot. You will see one on your right after the elevator that go down. To reach it, jump and glide to the ledge from the platform before you go down with this elevator. When you reach the Big Metallic Island with the 4 Destroyers around it, destroy all the 4 connections, and you should get this trophy. Do this path again, if you have not destroyed the 10 Blarg Destroyers. Shoot a Scream through the sniper hole on Orxon This is Skillful trophy related. After the 2nd Gadgetron, take the left path, enter the building at the end by the door at your right, and go out of this building after you shut down the force field. Now jump on all these floating platforms, and you will reach the spot with these crabs-like, and little farther on this platform you will see a pipe in the wall on your right. Look in this pipe and shoot with your blaster the little enemy that is sleeping at the other side. Try to not wake up him, or he will go away. Obtain the Magneboots This trophy is story related and cannot be missed. On your visit to Planet Orxon, after Clank jump out of Captain Qwark's tour shuttle and Ratchet hold his breathe, you will see an open doorway. Go through the doorway and Clank will have to find six Gadgebots as they will open a door. Continue finding them and you will eventually find the Magneboots. Find and destroy all the crates in the ocean on Pokitaru This is Skillful trophy related. From your ship, walk to the island on your left, and jump in the water at the end. Now, in this water, look the bottom, deep, and you will find Explosive Boxes. Touch them, and go fast away, to make them explode. Look around this area and when you have found all of them, you will get this trophy. Hit Me More! Obtain the Premium Nanotech upgrade Premium Nanotech costs 4.000 bolts and it can be purchased in a machine on Planet Orxon. These are not the droids you're looking for... Obtain the Persuader To get the Persuader, you need Raritanium, that can be get on Planet Hoven. You get the Raritanum by following the left path from your ship until you met a driller that give it to you for free. After getting it, go back to Pokitaru, take the teleporter near you ship and follow the path until you met a guy that gives the Persuader to you for the Raritanium. Score 4500+ on a hoverboard race on Kalebo III This is Skillful trophy related. To reach 4500 points or better, you will need to do the best combos as often as you can. You will have to perform tricks to get the maximum points, because your points will lower each time you repeat it. If you permute Big Jumps, it should be ok: - Twist McMarx: Hold a direction with analogic stick, and press , , , about 1 second each button. - Quarcktastic: Hold a direction with analogic stick, and press , , about 1 second each button. On the little jumps, you can do diver combos, but think to change the direction of the analogic stick, and push each time you do a combo, to get the maximum points. Obtain the Suck Cannon This trophy is story related and cannot be missed. In the beginning of the game, during your stay at Planet Eudora, you will eventually reach a room with the Suck Cannon. Just walk on it to receive it and this trophy is yours. Kill all Anklebiters on Planet Hoven This is Skillful trophy related. From your ship, walk along the way, and a little farther, you will see the forested section, at right. Enter this section, and when you will be near the moving platform (with a Gold Bolt at the top), a lot of dogs-like creature will get out of the floor and attack you. Kill them all. Destroy all cargo ships in the base on Orbital Oltanis This is Skillful trophy related. Destroy all the little shuttles that are on the buildings to get this trophy. If you don't find them all, use your visibombs to look on the building you don't have full visibility. Traverse the water region without losing any health on Veldin's Orbital Station This is Skillful trophy related. Near your ship, jump in the water and enter the 3 circles to open the door. Follow this way and go out of the water the other side. Press on the lowing button to shut down the lightning in the water. Enter the water and you have 1:20 to go to the end. Enter the water, follow this path and avoid all the lasers, mines and other things. When you reach the part with the 3 other circles, enter them to open the door. Enter the new path, through this door, go out of the water at the other side, and you should get this trophy. Kill 10 elite guards with only the wrench on Veldin This is Skillful trophy related. You have to kill 10 of these Elite Guards (the flying robots that use Missiles Launcher) with your wrench. You just need to kill 10 of them. You can destroy 10 times the first Elite Guard you see by killing him and reenter the planet 9 times.
Zechariah, the prophet, next to the last book in the Old Testament, a marvelous, prophetic record: we began to study it last time, and the very fact of your attendance tonight in such large numbers, and those of you who are in the chapel, is evidence that you are anticipating an exciting time as we continue through this tremendous book. It's really an adventure for me, because I am not really that familiar with doing in- depth exposition in the Old Testament, as I am in the New. And so it's a tremendous challenge to me, and what I've noticed about it is that it's so very, very different than the New Testament. The New Testament, so much of it is a logical progression of thought, whereas the Old Testament is just hammering, hammering, hammering on the same truth over and over and over again. You hear it, and then you see it in a symbol, and then it's in a metaphor, and then it's echoed by an angel and then God says it Himself, and it just keeps banging away. And so we're going to bang away through Zechariah on some of the marvelous things that God had in mind. Now I've entitled the message tonight, "The Divine Plan for Jerusalem." Needless to say, Jerusalem is a fantastic city and has been through the years. I've made a couple of visits to Jerusalem. There's something about it that gives you goose bumps. When you come over the hills from the west, and you finally drop down into the valley, and then you ascend the mountains again, and you see in the horizon the city of Jerusalem, it just is an amazing and thrilling sight. As you stand on the Mount of Olives and you look across the Kidron Valley, and you see the tomb of Absalom below you, and you know that just behind you is Bethany and all of the scenes that are a part of your memory from Scripture, and you look at that city and you can see a wall that is made up of bits and pieces from many walls, because it's been knocked down so many times. There's something exciting and something fantastically thrilling about that city. The fact that it exists, and the fact that it exists in the way it does, speaks to the reality of God and God's unchanging, unending faithfulness. And that's what Zechariah is about, at least in particular the part we're gonna look at. Now as we began the book last time, we noted that it is written in a crucial time in Israel's history. A remnant of Jews has just been released and returned from the Babylonian captivity. In 586 B.C., Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was taken into captivity and they had been there 70 years when Cyrus made a decree, releasing them and sending them back. This is bout 18 years after that decree was made. They're back in the land. Within seven months we saw that they had built the altar. Just after the beginning of the second year, they had begun to rebuild the walls of the temple and the foundation was laid and the face of the wall was put up. But then because of opposition, they had stopped. And so they're back in the land, at least a remnant of them, the ones that weren't so embedded in Babylonian society that they couldn't uproot. They're back in the land, they've got an altar which means they've got the sacrifices going, and they're on the way to build the temple, but opposition brings it to a grinding halt. But God doesn't want it to stop. God wants that temple built, God wants that wall built, God wants that city built, and God wants that whole thing set up the way He prescribed it in the Old Testament, and so He raises a prophet up to stimulate them to finish the job. And the prophet's name is Haggai. Two months after Haggai comes a man named Zechariah and between the two of them a revival breaks out in Israel and they begin to do what they started to do. They begin to move on rebuilding things. They get some action. They start putting the bricks again on those walls to build the temple. The message of the prophets is clear: there is to be a spiritual revival and there is to be a recommitment to do the work, to rebuild the city. Now as we come to Zechariah, the revival has already begun, Haggai being the catalyst for it. And Zechariah just wants to encourage the people in the work. And so his is a book of comfort. It's tough for a people who are trying to repatriate a desolated country, especially when they're such a small group. And they realize that all around them are potential enemies who could undue everything they've done, just by deciding to do it. It's a fearful situation. There's a prosperity all over the world that's hard to understand, because why should everybody be prosperous and God's people be in such a state of poverty and desolation and degradation? And so along comes Zechariah and he just again, and again, and again, encourages the people that God is in their midst, that God is at work, that God has a plan, that wonderful things are going to happen, no matter what it looks like. So his message is a message of comfort. God is a God of comfort. The name Zechariah means "God remembers." God remembers His people. God doesn't forget. Now this is to be a book of comfort but it begins with a very discomforting thought in the first six verses, we saw last week, and that is the fact that God is a God of vengeance, and wrath, and judgment. And the reason that is at the beginning is simply to make sure nobody goes asleep in the concept of comfort and thinks that it doesn't matter what you are or what you do, God's gonna make sure everything's alright. God's just in the business of comforting everybody. No, not at all. The first six verses show that God comforts the people that turn away from sin. You remember verse 4 said that, verse 3 said it. "Turn to me. Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds or doings." So that there is a basic prerequisite to receiving God's comforting blessing and that is turning away from evil. It's only the people who repent of sin. It's only the people who turn away from it that receive the wonderful blessing of God. So having laid down that prerequisite, we begin in verse 7, to hear the catalog of all the marvelous comforting blessing that God has for His people. Now, the prophecy falls into four sections. These aren't important in total, but right now I want to make at least one distinction. The first section is the "Call to Repentance," in the first six verses, 1:1-1:6, a "Call to Repentance." The second section begins in 1:7 and I call it "Comfort through Visions." You have a call to repentance, and then you have comfort through visions. God begins to comfort His people and He does so through a series of visions. The third section begins in chapter 7, and it's called "Counsel Regarding Fasts." "Counsel Regarding Fasts." And the last section, beginning in chapter 9, "Coming Events." So "A Call to Repentance, Comfort though Vision, Counsel Regarding Fasts," and finally "Coming Events." And summing it up, it's this: God has comfort, God has counsel, and God has some fantastic coming events for the people who have heard the call to repentance. That's the gist of the whole book. God's got some marvelous things laid out for people who repent. And from 1:7 through 6:15, through the 15thverse of the 6thchapter, comes this comfort. And interestingly enough, it is given in a series of eight visions. And this is a mode that was used very frequently with the prophets. Eight visions. Now each of them is distinct, and yet basically they all say the same thing. But they come at it from different angles. In fact, as I looked at them, it's very clear that the first one is almost a summarization of the other seven, and the other seven put out the details. But these eight visions were designed to comfort God's people. Let's begin at verse 7: "Upon the four and twentieth day," - now that's an important day simply because there have been so many interesting things that have happened on the 24thday. Five months before on the 24thday, work on the temple had begun. Two months before on the 24thday, Haggai received a marvelous revelation, and so there's something about the 24thday that's getting to be pretty hot stuff and about the time the 24thday rolls around, everybody perks up. "So on the 24thday of the 11thmonth, that is Sebat, the Babylonian name for the 11thmonth, in the second year of Darius," the second year of the reign of Darius the Mede who was the ruler of the Medo-Persian empire, the empire that really had the political control of Palestine, and this was the times of the Gentiles, it had already begun. It's still going on today where Gentile power has sway in land originally given to Israel. Even though Israel today controls its own Palestine, and its own city, do you realize that they were given by God everything from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates? And all the way down to the Nile and everything else, and they don't have all of that yet. And so it's still the times of the Gentiles and so their association then as a prophet is in the reign of Darius who was a Gentile king. And at this time, the 24thday of the 11thmonth, the month Sebat, which is the Babylonian title for the 11thJewish month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord. And again I remind you that they are not giving opinions, and they are not giving whims, they are declaring the word of the Lord which is spoken to them. "And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet." You'll see the term "the prophet" at the end of the verse. It really should come after "Zechariah." "Zechariah the prophet who is son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo." And it simply reminds us of what we've already noted about his heredity. So "on the 24thday of the 2ndyear in the reign of Darius," this helps us pinpoint exactly when this was: they had just been back from captivity, and God speaks through this prophet and to this prophet in a series of marvelous visions. And verse 8 begins, "I saw by night, and behold," - stop right there. In one night he has all eight visions, apparently. We'll see that as we go. And I would remind you that a vision is not the same as s dream. A vision is given when somebody is awake; a dream is given when somebody is asleep. Now there were many visions in the Old Testament. In fact, the word occurs 86 times in the Old Testament. It occurs 15 times in the New Testament, and I think occurs 22 of those 86 times in the book of Daniel. So Daniel had a lot of visions. But from back in Genesis 15:1, we have visions. And there it says, "After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision." So God, for a long time, has been communicating His Word through these visions. In Numbers 12:16, back in the Pentateuch, it says "If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision." God, historically from Abram on, has made Himself known to the prophets in a vision. You say, "Well, what is a vision?" Well, I don't know, specifically; I never had a vision. But basically a vision is an awareness of reality beyond the senses. You might want to call it a sixth sense, only it's more than just a premonition. It is the ability to see beyond the human senses. It is the ability to go beyond what the human senses can perceive. It is extra-physical sight. For example, the prophet will see something that cannot be seen by anyone else. To the naked eye it is totally invisible, but to this additional sense, God makes it revealed and clear. So he has these eight visions. Now we're gonna look at vision No.1. Vision No.1 encompasses the divine plan for Jerusalem and the scary thing about this is that the subject is so broad that it's hopeless to try to cover it all at one time. So let's just get into the thing and see if we can't figure out the vision and see how far we get. But there's so much in the Bible for the future of Jerusalem, we'll never be able to cover it all; we won't attempt. Now, Israel had gone into captivity and Jerusalem had been devastated. And the reason Israel had been taken in to captivity is simple: it's a one syllable word, starts with "s" and ends with "n." What is it? Sin. God said to Israel again and again and again, "If you keep sinning, if you keep sinning, if you keep sinning, I must have a holy reaction against it. You're going to pay a high price: captivity." And the major prophet, who constantly preached this message, just before the captivity, was a man name Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the one who proclaimed the coming captivity, over and over and over and over. He told them, "You're gonna have trouble, you're gonna have trouble, you're gonna have trouble. I'm gonna take you out of the land I brought you," in the second chapter He says, "into a fruitful land, into a prosperous land, and you have not turned to me, you have not worshipped me, and you're gonna get out, you're going to be taken out of this land." The whole book of Jeremiah is just loaded with the cataloging of Israel's sins that are leading to the Babylonian captivity. He was the key prophet before the exile. But Jeremiah, among many of his prophecies, made one that is especially important. And it is in the 29thchapter of Jeremiah. And I want you to look at it with me, in the 10thverse. Jeremiah 29:10, because Jeremiah not only told them they were going to go to captivity, but he told them how long. And I think this is fascinating. Certainly indicates that Jeremiah was speaking divine revelation. He had no idea, humanly speaking, how long they'd be in captivity, but God knew exactly, because when the time was right, God raised up Cyrus, who wasn't even a believer, and God had Cyrus make a decree and the people had the freedom to leave, just at the time God prescribed. Alright, Jeremiah 29:10, now all the time he's been telling they're going to captivity, but look what he said: "For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return even unto this place." Verse 14, "And I will be found by you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again unto the place from which I caused you to be carried captive." Now God says "I'm gonna bring you back at the end of 70 years. At the end of that period of time, there'll be a decree that'll send you back to the land. Now that is a prophecy that they heard. It was very, very explicit. Now keep it in mind, because it is the basis of the vision we're gonna see in Zechariah. Jeremiah said "You're going into captivity because God always, always, always, always, puts a price on sin, always. You can be sure your sin will," - what? "Find you out." So, when they were going into captivity, inevitable because of sin, but there is - and this is the beauty of it - there is a tolerance within God's judgment that turns to compassion. See? "God shall not always keep His anger," said Malachi. There is a turning, and God's compassion takes over after His chastening, and He says, "I'll bring you back." And that's the basis of this vision. Now there are five elements to the vision, we'll notice them as we go. The first one is the picture scene, the picture scene in verse 8. And if there's anything that just comes out of this passage, loud and clear with neon signs, as tall as a ten story building, it is this: God is faithful. Boy when God makes a promise, He keeps it. God made them a promise: "You're going to captivity, but you're going to Babylon for 70 years and at the end of 70 years, you're coming back." And that is exactly when they came back. God kept His promise. But by this time, they're back, but things aren't going like they thought. And in the midst of this situation, they're sort of sitting saying, "But the city is in desolation and we're in humiliation, and our enemies have stopped our building." And they need some comfort from God. And so the first vision comes. And let's look at the picture scene in verse 8, "I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom," or better, that were in the hollow or the glen or the ravine even, "and behind him there were red horses, sorrel, and white." Now stop there. Now, basically, that amazing picture is not really interpreted by the prophet. Apparently it was very obvious to the people what was being said, and as we look at it, we'll see how that becomes obvious as we put the pieces together. Now, Zechariah has what we would call an apocalyptic or prophetic vision. He is in an ecstatic condition. He is in a trance like situation, much like Peter would have been in on the roof of the house in Joppa when God showed him a sheet and all kinds of - a bunch of things like that. It isn't dreaming. It is an ability to see something beyond the human senses. It's a supernatural miracle. And he says, "I saw." Now, remember when that term is used absolutely in reference to a prophet, it means "I received the revelation," because prophets were called "seers" and when he says "I saw" he means "I was given a revelation from God and the first thing I saw was a man." And that's all it says. His identity is not explained, but immediately we get the feeling that he's a super-human man. Something different about him. In fact, he is an angel in the appearance of a man. And the man that he sees is riding on a red horse. There is justification for translating that, in reference to a horse, as reddish brown, rather than a bright red horse. Such because the very same term is used to describe Esau, who was not bright red. He was just red head, like red heads are, not like a red dress. So it can be used in that sense. So he sees this horse that is reddish brown, as a horse would be. And a rider on this horse. Now, we have to stop at this point and we get a little idea here of what we're seeing because we know what horses represented in visionary situations in the Old Testament. A horse normally represented war. A horse seemed to be a symbol of war. In Deuteronomy chapter 2 - now you can incidentally find that also in the book of Revelation where horses are representative of war. When Christ comes back at the battle of Armageddon, what is he riding? A horse. In Deuteronomy 32:13, this is also Old Testament, "He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields. He made him to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock." And here again you have the idea of God, as it were, at war, and the horse riding across the hills, God carrying out His war-like purposes. And there's a couple of others. I'm just giving hints at them, we won't take too much time, but there are many of them. Another symbol of it you'd find in Psalm 66 and perhaps in Isaiah 58 and so forth. Horses appear as useful in war, and that's precisely what they were used for, and of course, they appear that way symbolically. But the best passage may be, and the closest one, is in Zechariah 9:10, "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off." And there you have the chariot, the horse and the battle bow all in the same verse, indicating that horses were used in situations of war. The 10thchapter, the 3rdverse, says at the end of the verse, "majestic horse in the battle." Again, assigning the horse the role of war. So we can see then that a horse basically, in the Old Testament, and you can follow this through right into the New Testament, was a symbol of war. We find it all throughout the Word of God. And I would add to that that red is also a symbol in the Bible and it's a symbol of blood and judgment and vengeance. Where you have red, for example in Revelation chapter 6, a rider on a red horse, there is war, and there is bloodshed, and there is death, because red speaks of blood and judgment and vengeance. As I recall there is a word in Isaiah 63, I might be wrong, but I think it's Isaiah 63:1, "Who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah?" This is the day of Messiah coming. "This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why art thou red in thine apparel, that thy garments like him who treads in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone and of the people there was none with me, I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled on my garments. And I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart and the year of my redeemed is come." When the Messiah comes, and that's almost a direct parallel to Revelation 19, when the Messiah comes, His garments are stained red with blood. That's the symbol of war and the symbol of death and vengeance and judgment. So what we have here then is a war horse, prepared for battle, prepared for judgment, prepared for vengeance. And astride this is a ride. Now we can talk along time about who the rider is. Jewish commentators historically have said it was Michael, but I'm convinced it was other than Michael and we shall see in a moment who it was. Now I want you to notice where this rider is in verse 8: "He stood among the myrtle trees," that were in the glen or the hollow. Now, if you've ever been to Israel, or if you've ever read or studied anything about Israel, you know that the myrtle is very common. It's not really a tree at all; it's a bush. And it grows everywhere. It's all over the place. It's just everywhere, very, very common. Not always beautiful but if it's growing along a stream or if it's growing in a hollow or a glen, which would be a low place where there would be much shade and perhaps much water, along a stream you find that these shrubs can grow to the height of eight feet, and they can have very glossy, shiny green leaves and be very lovely. In fact, the ones that really flourish develop a star shaped white flower and they're very beautiful. And when you bruise one of the leaves of a myrtle that is flourishing like that, it gives off its fragrance. But its fragrance is only given off when it is bruised. And so all of the sudden we see here a whole lot of myrtles everywhere. They are common to the land of Israel; they are flourishing in this place. Incidentally, the word "myrtle" in Hebrew is "hedasa" and a synonym for it is Ester. The name Ester is actually hedasain the Hebrew, which means myrtle. So that's a name, a beautiful name, to a Jew who would see something very lovely in a myrtle bush. In fact, it's interesting in Isaiah 41 - I don't want to get all into horticulture here, but this is kind of interesting - but in Isaiah 41, Isaiah 41:19 and Isaiah 55:13, it says that when the millennium comes, there will be tremendous flourishing of the myrtle. So God even likes it. There's gonna be plenty of it. God liked it enough to put it in Israel once and he likes it enough to fill up the millennium with them. Now myrtle branches also were gathered with palm branches and willow twigs at the Feast of Tabernacles, and myrtle branches were used to make the booths in which the children of Israel celebrated the wanderings in the wilderness. Now, here he is, this rider, riding a war horse and in a bunch of myrtle bushes. Now you say, "Now what does it mean when it says they're in the bottom or in the glen or in the hollow or in the ravine?" Well, this is identified most frequently with a low place. That's obviously what it means. And the low place outside of the city of Jerusalem is the Kidron Valley. If you look directly east from say the - or let's say you're on the Mount of Olives to the east of the city. Between you and the Mosque of Omar and the Dome of the Rock, there is a valley, just goes down and up. There's no passage there, it's just a valley. That is the Kidron Valley, and as the Kidron Valley proceeds to the south, it makes a bend around Mount Zion, and connects up with another valley, known as the Valley of Henum. And where the Valley of Henum and the Valley of Kidron meet, there is the lowest place outside the city of Jerusalem. It was called "The Hollow" and the spot had always been a garden. In fact, in 2 Kings 24 it says "The King's garden was in the hollow, or the ravine where Kidron and Henum met." And most likely, that's what you have here. In a low place outside the city sits a red horse with a rider on top, amidst some flourishing myrtles, that would flourish in the shade and the water that would run in that area. Now that isn't all. Further - the rate we're going we're just going to tell you what this is and you'll have to come back next week to find out what it means - verse 8: "And behind him there were red horses, sorrel and white." You have more riders. All of the sudden you don't just have one rider, you've got more. And notice there are red and white and sorrel. You know what a sorrel is? It's a mixture of what? Red and white. So you've got the red horse, the white horse, and the combination. Now is there any significance to the colors? In visions, no question about it. Red means what? Blood, judgment and vengeance. What does white mean? What is a white horse a sign of? Victory, triumph. When a Roman conquer conquered a city, he rode back into his own city riding a white horse, the sign of victory. When Christ comes, He comes on a white horse. So what you have there is war that is going to end up in victory, and the mixture on some of the horses. So the scene is a scene of preparedness for war. It's going to be bloody but it's going to be victorious. Now you say "Who are all these riders?" Well, it's clear. Who historically have been the agents of God's judgment? Who have they been? Angels.....angels. This is the God Squad. The angelic squadron, folks, and they are led by a confident leader on a red horse. The horses speak of battle and speed and swiftness and readiness to hasten to God's command. There are messengers of vengeance and messengers of victory, and the commanding angel is the rider on the red horse. You say "But who is he?" Look at verse 11. Zechariah 1:11, "And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees." Who's the angel of the Lord? Christ. Now do you know who the rider on the red horse is? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the Lord. He's the commander in chief of the God Squad, about to embark upon the battle. You say "But what are the myrtles?" Well, listen. Because of the lowliness, because of the commonness, because of the simplicity, because of the beauty, and because of the fragrance when bruised, the only possibility for the myrtle is that the myrtle represents Israel. The commons, they're everywhere in the land, the people of God. And what is the hollow? What is the deep place, the glen? That speaks of the suffering and the lowliness and the degradation and the baseness of their present condition. All the little lovely myrtles are sitting in the valley. They're looking up at their city and wondering if they'll ever rebuild it. And all of the sudden, standing in the midst, is the angelic army, led by the commander in chief, ready for battle. It's gonna be bloody, but it's gonna be victorious. Now that's an exciting scene isn't it? And you can hear all the Jews who were listening to Zechariah's sermon going, "Did you hear that? See? It's coming." Tremendous vision. They are the covenant people. They are the eternally elect nation. They are loved by the Lord and they are the object of His unchanging purpose and the gifts and callings of God, Romans 11:29, are without what? Repentance. And God says "You may have been in captivity for 70 years and you may be in humiliation and degradation now and you may have a broken down wall and a broken down temple and a devastated land and you may be in the hollow, and you may be down here in the valley, but listen. There is a group of armed super-human personalities gathering to fight your war. Be encouraged." Boy that is encouraging. The angel of the Lord, none other than Jesus Christ, no other than God Himself, the second person of the Trinity, taking on an angelic form. You say, "How do you know that?" Well, let me show you something. Genesis 16, just quickly. We're not even going to get past this verse. You know, that's of the Lord, the Lord is gracious. Because if I had finished this, I'd have to spend all week doing another message, and I have to speak so many times this week, so many places, I was praying most of today, "Lord how am I ever going to get my work done next week?" Now I just don't have any work to do. This is terrific. Genesis chapter 16, verse 13, well, we gotta back up. Verse 7, "And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness." Angel of the Lord. Verse 9, "And the angel of the Lord said to her." Verse 10, "And the angel of the Lord said to her." Verse 11, "And the angel of the Lord said to her." Now we know here the angel of the Lord is identified, but who is he? Finally she says something, verse 13, "And she called the name of the Lord who spoke unto her, thou..." What? "God. Thou God." Who is the angel of the Lord? God. God manifest, and who is God manifest? God the Son, second person of the Trinity. Look at Exodus chapter 3, verse 2, "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush." Now you know where you are, don't you? Moses and the burning bush. "The bush burned with fire but it wasn't consumed and Moses said 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt.' And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see" - listen - "God called to him out of the midst of the bush." What is amazing is verse 2 says "The angel of the Lord appeared in the bush" and in verse 4 it says "And God called to him out of the bush." The angel of the Lord and God are the same. God manifest, the angel of the Lord. And if you were to look at Zechariah chapter 3, verse 1, "He showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord." Now watch, "And the Lord said to Satan 'The Lord rebuke you, Satan.'" Isn't that interesting? The angel of the Lord says, and the angel of the Lord is God, now watch this one, the angel of the Lord, who is God, says, "Lord rebuke you." Here is the Lord asking the Lord. See the angel of the Lord is one person of the Trinity, unique and yet the same. Marvelous. This is God, the second person of the Trinity, in the form of an angel, riding a horse. Now I just want to take it a step further. Do you know who the angel of the Lord in terms of his responsibility to Israel? Psalm 34:7, don't look at it, just listen. Psalm 34:7 says this: "The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him." The angel of the Lord was No.1, the protector and deliverer of Israel. He was the commander in chief of the angelic force, and He is the protector of Israel. Second, this is beautiful. He is the interceder for Israel, the interceder for Israel. You see that in chapter 1 as we'll see, and in chapter 3. Thirdly, He is the comforter of Israel. Genesis chapter 16, you see three distinct ministries of the angel of the Lord, protector and deliverer, interceder or advocate, and comforter or counselor. That's who He is. So here's the scene: a group of people in a state of humiliation, about to be delivered by their glorious protector, defender, interceder, comforter. He stands ready to fight for them. What a scene. The Lord is in the midst of His people, ready to defend, ready to protect, ready to advocate their cause, ready to comfort them in their time of need. He's outside the city, ready to judge the nations and put Israel back in the right place, the place that God intended all along. He's gonna fulfill God's promise. Jeremiah said, "God will bring you back in 70 years and God will give you back the land and God will rebuild the land." And this angel, this angel of the Lord, was there ready to guarantee the promise of God. Boy that's a beautiful scene. And you know what's wonderful about it? We'll close with this. It's a beautiful parallel to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to His church, isn't it? Here we are, and for this time, we suffer, yea all that live Godly in this present age shall, what? Suffer persecution. Who's running the world? Satan. Satan is the prince of this world. We're not in control. We're subjected to a satanic system, and we're, as it were, in the hollow. We're in the glen, in the deep place, in the ravine. We're like Israel. We're all gathered around and huddled in the deep place and saying "How long oh Lord?" like the people in the book of Revelation crying out under the altar, "How long oh Lord?" until things are made right. And yet there in the midst of us is not only the angelic host, but a great leader, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our defender, who is our protector, who is our advocate, who takes our case to the Father, who is our High Priest, and who is our comforter. And who comforts us in the fact that someday He will come and reign as King of Kings and what? And Lord of Lords. Listen. God is a faithful God. If God says to His people Israel, "I'll keep my promise," then He sets the great defender in motion with the angelic host to keep Him. If God says to the church, "I will keep my promise," He sets the Lord Jesus Christ to the task of keeping that promise. I don't know how it would be to live in this world apart from God. But I know it would be terribly hopeless to feel that life was unfulfilling, that hope was really hopeless, and have no promise of anybody who is standing ready to take up your cause. Do you know what happened in the story in Zechariah? Four years later, the temple was built. 80 years later, the walls were finished. Israel was back. God kept His promise beyond that? The fullness of that prophecy is still yet to be fulfilled. When God starts to gather His people from all over the globe and bring them back for the kingdom. But you know what's exciting to me? That four years later the temple was built. Those angels did the job, and the myrtle trees got out of the valley and up on the mount. And in the future, God is going to restore Israel, and you and I are alive in a day when we can begin to see it rumble, huh? Back in the land, 1948, and that's the first time in a long time. And they're holding onto that land, and God is beginning to work a work, a wondrous work, to prepare for the re-gathering in the Kingdom. God is a faithful God. Beloved, that's the kind of God I want to put my life into His hands, don't you? That's the kind of God I can trust with my life. God saves sinners, _____ said. God takes them to be with Him, that's His promise. Paul says "Put on the helmet of the hope of salvation." God is faithful. He's faithful to Israel in the past. He'll be faithful to Israel in the future. He's faithful to the church now, and he'll be faithful to you as you commit your life to Him. We have a faithful God. He wants to fight your battles. He wants to fight your wars. He wants to win your victories. And He just wants you to tag along and praise Him for what He's doing. That's your high joy and great privilege. Let's pray. Father we just barely got started, and there's so much, so much to say. And probably we didn't say it very well, even what we did say. But I'll tell you one thing, Father, the thing that makes me trust you for my life and the future is because I've seen how you've fulfilled the trust of everyone who trusted you in the past. It seems to me such a shocking thing to realize the angel of the Lord stood ready to defend your people Israel, so does the Lord Jesus Christ, that very angel, stand ready to defend me, even to the place where who shall lay any charge to God's elect? It is God that justifies, the interceding High Priest who doesn't let one charge be laid against me, who defends me against every accusation, who protects me against the onslaughts of Satan, who will ultimately win the victory and give to me the eternal reward. What a tremendous truth. God thank you for being faithful, thank you for being a covenant keeping God, thank you for giving me that rider on the red horse, the Lord Jesus Christ to be my defender. Now I would pray tonight that if there is anyone in our congregation who has no such defender, no such advocate interceding, no such comforter, that before they pillow their head in sleep tonight, they might be brought to a place of conviction, a place of trust, receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We will praise you in Christ's name, Amen. You may reproduce this Grace to You content for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Grace to You's Copyright Policy (http://www.gty.org/connect/copyright).
Which Comes First, the Messiah or the Temple? The Messiah and the Temple For many, the anticipation towards the building of the Holy Temple is linked to the arrival of the messiah. For under the harsh conditions of the exile, it had always simply been assumed that there could be no other way of returning to Israel and rebuilding the Temple. How else would the circumstances that would permit the rebuilding come about, the people believed, short of "Divine Intervention" and the messiah's appearance on the scene? Messiah in Biblical Sources Let us begin by examining the Biblical foundation for the concept of messiah. We find that the concept of messiah first appears in the prophecy of Bilaam: "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17). The Hebrew word used here for scepter, shevet, is translated into Aramaic as "messiah." The idea of "messiah" is described in the various writings of the prophets with varying attributes. In the book of Daniel, he is described as one who arrives with the clouds of heaven. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven... " (Daniel 7:13). However, in Zechariah (9:9), the messiah is described as "lowly, riding upon an ass." Our sages understand this seeming contradiction to indicate that both visions are essentially correct - and that anything is possible. Perhaps when the messiah arrives, grandeur and splendor will accompany his appearance. Alternatively, perhaps he will come in a quiet and unassuming fashion. The Talmud indicates that much of this depends upon Israel: If they are deemed worthy and deserving, he will arrive in a grand manner to befit their status; if not, the opposite is true (Sanhedrin 98:A). The Definition of Messiah in Halacha (Authentic Jewish Law) Shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Jewish warrior Bar Cochba led a short-lived rebellion against the Roman occupation of the Land of Israel (80-83 CE). Maimonides describes Bar Cochba as "a great king whom all of Israel, including the great sages, were convinced was the messiah" (Hilchot Ta'aniot Ch. 5, Hilchot Melachim Ch. 11). In fact, one of the reasons that the solemn fast of Tisha B'Av (the ninth of Av) was instituted - in addition to the destruction of the Holy Temple - was to commemorate Bar Cochba's downfall. This is crucial to a proper understanding of the role of the messiah. From Maimonides' words, we understand that Bar Cochba's attempt to restore the kingdom to Israel and return the nation to its land is clearly defined by Jewish law as a messianic manifestation. Thus a fast was decreed for all generations to mourn the failure of this process. In other words, the attempts of Bar Cochba had messianic potential. Similarly, the prophet Zechariah indicates that it is proper to rejoice over any messianic manifestation, even if it only exists on a small scale, or in potential. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king comes to you... humble, and riding upon an ass." In the Second Temple era, the nation did indeed rejoice with their return to the land, in spite of the fact that it was a very modest return. It was administered by a government of chieftains, Ezra and Nehemiah... and the messiah had not returned. Under these modest circumstances, the verse borrows the word "messiah" and uses it to describe, of all people - Cyrus, king of Persia, who authorized the building of the Temple. In this regard the verse in Isaiah states: "Thus says the L-rd to His messiah, to Cyrus" (Isaiah 45:1). The Performance of the Torah's Commandments Does Not Depend Upon the Messiah There are no Biblical verses that make a connection between the building of the Holy Temple and the arrival of the messiah. The building of the Holy Temple is a commandment that is binding upon all of Israel to fulfill, in every generation. But it must be noted that there is a difference between the commandments that Israel are obliged to perform, and the prophecies referring to the appearance of the messiah. The prophecies are a Divine promise; a heavenly revelation concerning the appearance of the redeemer in the end of days. Nothing can ever change that Divine promise. However it is important to understand that the arrival of the messiah is not dependent on anything other than the will of G-d alone. He shall fulfill His promise at the time that He deems fit. In fact, if there really is a question as to "Which comes first, the messiah or the Temple," there seems to be ample indication that the building of the Holy Temple will precede the messiah's arrival. Various Biblical verses and statements made by the great sages prove this. This is actually the opinion of Maimonides, who quotes an astounding verse from the prophecy of Malachi (3:1) in his classic Letter to Yemen: "For suddenly the master whom you are seeking will come to his sanctuary." It appears that this prophecy, referring to the arrival of the messiah, specifies that he will indeed arrive at the already built Temple. One of the most important foundations of Jewish faith is the belief that the commandments of the Torah are applicable, and indeed must be fulfilled, at all times and under all circumstances. They are to be performed without engaging in speculation as to when the messiah will arrive. An entire verse in the book of Deuteronomy is dedicated to this: "The secret things are for the L-rd our G-d, and that which has been revealed - they are for us and for our children, forever, to perform all of the words of this Torah" (29:28). Maimonides expresses scorn for those individuals who would nullify certain commandments of the Torah and not fulfill them, saying that they will wait for the messiah to arrive first: "Those people who convince themselves that they will remain [in exile where they cannot perform the commandments] until the king, the messiah arrives, and then they will all go to Jerusalem... they are not only fooling themselves, but they are causing others to sin as well... because there is no fixed set time for the messiah to arrive... but the obligation of our religion and the commandments is not dependant on the arrival of the king, the messiah. Rather, it is our duty to be occupied with the Torah and commandments, doing our best to fulfill them. After we have seen to our obligations, if G-d finds us worthy... to see the messiah, then good. But if not - we have lost nothing, and we have fulfilled our obligation." (Maimonides, Letter on Religious Persecution) Thus, it certainly stands to reason that the Third Temple could be rebuilt today in Jerusalem even before the messiah arrives. This would concur precisely with the opinion of the sages of Israel recorded in the Jerusalem Talmud: "The Holy Temple will in the future be re-established before the establishment of the kingdom of David." (Ma'aser Sheni 29) In the same way, the builders of the Second Temple did not wait for the messiah to arrive. They simply began the construction, regardless of their destitution and foreign domination. Similarly, several attempts were made to rebuild the Temple, throughout history. These attempts were based on Maimonides' important principle, "the obligation of the commandments is not dependent upon the arrival of the messiah." We can also find other indications throughout rabbinic literature that the messiah will appear to a generation that has already built the Temple. For example, in the Midrash Yalkut Shimoni (Isaiah 499) it is stated: "Our rabbis taught: when the messiah arrives, he will stand on the roof of the Holy Temple, and shout out to Israel: 'Humble ones! The time of your redemption is at hand!'" In this scene, the messiah arrives to declare to his people Israel that the promised and long-awaited redemption has arrived... and Israel meets him in the Holy Temple. At the same time, we also understand that in the event Israel has not yet built the Temple by the time the messiah arrives, one of his duties will be to instruct them to do so. It is to this scenario that Maimonides refers when he states in his "Laws of Kings:" "In the future the messiah king will arrive... and build the Temple... and all the laws will be reinstituted as in former days; sacrifices will be brought, and the sabbatical and jubilee year records will be adhered to as specified in the Torah... and he will see to it that all of Israel follow these laws." If Israel does not fulfill the commandment to build the Holy Temple as the returning Babylonian exiles did, then it will be done under the directive of the messiah, who will instruct the entire nation to rise up and rebuild it as in the past. But nowhere is Israel instructed to wait for him for the rebuilding! Thus Maimonides begins his "Laws of the Temple" with these words: "It is a positive commandment to erect a Temple for the L-rd, ready for the performance of the sacrificial offerings, to where the festive pilgrimage is directed three times a year... " In summary: it is much easier to wait for the messiah, and thus, "put the blame on him," then to take the responsibility for ourselves, for our lives, for our actions. But a careful Biblical analysis and study will reveal that waiting for the messiah's arrival to begin rebuilding the Temple is just a convenient excuse. There is no question about the fact that at the time G-d wills it, the messiah will arrive. This a great promise that He made, and nothing can happen that will change that. But this has nothing to do with our obligations to G-d! Those also do not change! The messiah's job is not to come and tell us, "Now, it is time for you to fulfill this or that particular commandment." For the commandments are always to be fulfilled by Israel, at all times, to the best of our ability.
If any one designer epitomizes the look of Cote de Texas, it would be Ginny Magher from Atlanta, Georgia. Ginny became well known when her two houses, one in Provence and one in Atlanta, were both featured in Veranda, Southern Accents and numerous other magazines starting in the late 1990s. Her Provence house was so popular is was recently included in The Houses of Veranda by Lisa Newsom. Remember this cover – showing a guest bedroom at Ginny’s gorgeous Provence farmhouse?? It had the oversized Manuel Canovas toile in black and white, mixed with blue! How many bedrooms did this cover inspire? And notice the station clock, years and years before it became so trendy. A few years after the Provence house was published – this cover story featured Ginny’s Atlanta house – designed to resemble a “Hotel Particulier” one might see in Paris. Just look at those Versailles patterned parquet floors and the French boiserie painted a soft celadon green. Magher’s two houses are all over pinterest, but still, I tried to find the prettiest and biggest pictures in my magazines and on the internet to show here – in one place – to celebrate the designer who epitomizes Country French décor. PROVENCE – Mas de Baraquet: BEFORE: How to you turn a ruin like this into a spectacular country vacation house? You hire the best in the restoration business in France, for one thing: Bruno LaFourcade, a self-taught architect, who, along with his wife and son, can transform the most rundown pile of stones into a magical place. Here you can see two dovecotes on each side of the property, along with 4 plane trees that stand in front of the old farmhouse. (a special thank you to blogger Trouvais for some of these scans!) And After: Named Mas de Baraquet, the house looks out onto the front terrace shaded by four centuries-old plane trees. I love the gate at the end of the graveled terrace. And on the far right – notice the stone fountain? A close up of the stone fountain. The restored dovecote is seen at the right. How many people today use stone trough’s for fountains inspired by Ginny’s? The terrace with its box and gravel – so French. And another view of the front façade. How many people were influenced with this house since it was first published 13 years ago? The stucco, the blue shutters, the French pots filled with simple box balls, the lanterns, the iron balconies – so many elements that are found in upscale neighborhoods today. Dining on the front terrace. Notice the tall steel window/door – at what was once probably an entrance to the animal stalls and is now the orangery. The terrace set up for an afternoon meal under the large plane trees. Ginny has her studio in the dovecote. And looking the other direction – out towards the dovecote on the right. The front terrace, overlooking the farm land and mountain range. And later, the same field with lavender. Other times the field is ablaze with sunflowers. One of the dovecotes as it looks today. BEFORE: To the side of the mas is the beginnings of the pergola and the swimming pool. AFTER: The pergola covered in vines and roses. Off the side of the pergola is the swimming pool. The landscaping around the mas is so beautiful with all the clipped box and stone steps. A birthday party thrown for Ginny’s husband included dinner on the terrace. So pretty! Close up of the candles in limes and pink roses. Ginny’s husband Craig’s placesetting – with the specialized place card. Ginny says: "In the summer at our home, Mas de Baraquet, in Provence, we love to entertain on the terrace under our beautiful plantain trees. It is magic to be there looking out on the fields of wheat and sunflowers. When I dream of Provence, I dream of this setting. This particular evening, we were having a dinner party for my husband's 70th birthday. Friends came from all over the world to celebrate with us. With the help of my friend and florist, Sebastien from Celia Flor in Arles, our chef who prepares the most wonderful Provencal dishes, a local Jazz band from St. Remy and great wines from the region, it was a very magical evening indeed!!!" Inside the mas, the entry hall with the stone staircase. Notice the painting above the desk and the sconces flanking it!! Soooo beautiful. A close up of the French desk and sconces. It looks like a cartoon – a drawing made before a tapestry is created - above the desk. The house is an enfilade – all rooms flow off each other in a row. Here in the entry hall is the front door, then the study and further, the main salon with the red curtains and barometer. And, off the foyer is the powder room, behind arched glass French doors. The sink is marble from the 18th century. The lantern and trumeau are sooo pretty!! The dining room with a crystal chandelier. I love the fancy chandelier next to the rough beams on the ceiling. Notice the bar through the arched door. Ginny framed pieces of wallpaper to hang on the walls. The former barn, with its steel doors, was transformed into an orangery. Fabric by Le Manach. The orangery is where breakfast is served, overlooking the front terrace. In the orangery – a set of framed dried herbs line the wall. The kitchen with the eat in breakfast room has ceiling beams painted white. And another picture of the kitchen with its blue and white tiles and French antique tables and chairs. The styling is Veranda 12 years ago. Today, stylists are much less heavy handed. In another photoshoot, the table is covered with a white cloth. Paintings and accessories are changed in this photo. At the opposite end of the kitchen is a sitting area with wicker chairs around a large fireplace. In the study is a marble fireplace with a beautiful antique French chair. At the end of the enfilade is the salon filled with French chairs and benches. I love the way she painted the trim a dark gray. Beautiful mirror. And at the other side of the room is the large stone fireplace with an antique barometer and a corner cabinet. This sitting room on the first floor is filled with traditional red checked fabrics and a French bench. Upstairs is a bright yellow and red tiled bathroom. This bedroom has a beautiful blue and white toile draped iron bed and antique screen. Blue and white tiles in this bathroom and an antique chaise. This gorgeous bedroom has twin beds set in an alcove. Notice the darling urns on the wall. Another antique screen sits above a French bench. Just gorgeous!!! The charming bathroom is decorated in matching fabrics. Notice the monogrammed towel: Mas de Baraquet. Ginny says this antique French bed is too short for an adult! Draped in Le Manach fabric, its window overlooks the terrace. And the famous Manuel Canovas toile draped bed. Love the chairs and ottoman in the stripe. So many cute bedrooms! Ginny’s former Atlanta house was featured in a cover story in Veranda. While the house is French inspired, it was built to resemble a Parisian townhouse instead of a Provence farmhouse. Why copy a French farmhouse when you have the real thing? The Magher’s sold the house to another couple, who then also sold it a few years later. This picture was taken from that real estate brochure. Here, a stone staircase, just like at Mas de Baraquet. The stairs wrap around the front door. Unfortunately, I only have a few pictures of the living room – as furnished by Ginny. Note: In the corner is her antique sedan chair. It is beyond fabulous!!! Above the paintings is a French barometer. And across the room is this picture of the French sofa. Here’s a closeup of the wall behind the sofa, filled with gilt framed paintings, dishes, gorgeous sconces, intaglios, and a carving. Each piece is so beautiful! The dining room with the gorgeous Versailles patterned parquet floors. The paneling is to die for!!! So beautiful!!! So is her chandelier. And her curtains are like ball gowns. Another view shows the marble fireplace with a trumeau above it. The trumeau was built into the paneling – it came with the house and the new owner has it now! Lucky!! Here is the library under Ginny – warm and masculine, perfection! It’s interesting to see the library under the new owners – it looks like they bought some of the furniture – so the room should look just as good, right? The tole chandelier remained, as did the sofas and chairs, but without the pillows – the sofa looks flat. And the shelves, again, notice how fabulous Ginny’s shelves look. These don’t have near the pizzazz. Notice the vignette in the hallway – Ginny’s is eye catching with the portrait and the bright white dishes, the new owner’s vignette seems dull by comparison. The rug too makes a big difference – as does the coffee table. Mostly though, it’s the shelves, the portrait and the pillows that are missing and missed. Study Ginny’s shelves – the white gives it all a pop and draws the eye there. Same with the vignette and the pillows. This is the new owner’s décor, but I wanted you to see the family room, how lovely the room and its fireplace is. Love the armoire doors made into a built in cabinet. Great idea! Bad scan – but this is how Ginny decorated the room. Lavender walls mix with mustard fabrics and lavender checks and toiles. And the opposite side of the family room, the kitchen. Notice Ginny used the same terracotta tiles she has in Provence. I love how Ginny separated the two refrigerators and notice the stained door leading to the butler’s pantry. Ginny didn’t use chandeliers, these were added by the new owners. I had to show you the bar that Ginny designed with armoire styled doors and paneling. I wish I had all the pictures from the Veranda spread, but I saved the tearsheets and now I can’t find them!!! Urrrggh. Ginny’s bedroom is beyond dreamy. One fabric covers everything! Beautiful trumeau and French chairs. And the Leontine linens are gorgeous, as always. The Lit Polonaise bed is certainly a show stopper. It makes the room more cozy and filled out. A close up of the bed. Stunning! The new owners were left with half a bedroom. The curtains remained and it looks like the bench and settee was sold with the house, along with the trumeau. But the rug is really not right at all, and the bed, well – I so miss Ginny’s Lit Polonaise. I do love the nude above the bed. I have to say, the bedroom under Ginny was so fabulous!! Isn’t the architecture of the room stunning? The door leads out to the backyard. And look how Ginny decorated her master bathroom. Gorgeous chandelier, mixed with a checked settee – blue painted trumeau and blue shades mixed with blue and white porcelains. Beautiful vanity. So pretty!!! The basement is so large – look at this wine cellar that leads off the staircase. This really does look like Provence with the tiled floors! The back of the house – is interesting in there is no pool, just a pond. On the wing at the right is the master bedroom. Even without a pool, there is a pool house with a stone fireplace. Beautiful fireplace and notice the doors and the trumeaus over them. I love how it’s painted gray with blue on the ceilings. There is even a pergola, just like the one in Provence! To see more of Ginny’s designs, check out her facebook page HERE. AND BE SURE TO VISIT ONE KING’S LANE starting on November 4: On November 4th at 8am, the Ginny Magher Interiors Tastemaker Sale will begin on One Kings Lane. The sale will feature an exquisite personal collection of French Antiques, including one of a kind items such as a Toiletries Case belonging to the 20th century art collector and decorator Charlie de Beistegui and an 18th century restored carriage that belonged to the Duchesse d'Orleans. Here is the carriage being photographed for the One King’s Lane sale!!! Wow!!! How cool is that? It would make a cute place for a telephone, like an old fashioned booth. Remember this carriage was in the corner of her living room at her former house! And here is Ginny Magher herself – sitting in her restored carriage. I love the fabric she used inside it! To purchase The Houses of Veranda which features Ginny’s Provence farmhouse, just click below: I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Ginny Magher’s designs as much as I did! Until next time….
Sermon for Easter 2, Year C St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ The Rev. Vicki Hesse, April 7, 2013 For Readings, click here – John 20:19-31 I speak to you in the name of One God+, Creator Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen In John Irving’s novel “A Prayer for Owen Meany”, the narrator John talks to his friend, Owen Meany. They discuss the meaning of belief and of God. In one scene, at the schoolyard, Owen points to a gray granite statue of Mary Magdalene as twilight falls. When it has become so dark that the statue is no longer visible, Owen asks John if he knows that the statue is still there. John says that of course, he knows, but Owen keeps pushing. “You have no doubt she’s there?” Owen nagged at me. “Of course I have no doubt!” I said. “But you can’t see her - you could be wrong,” he said. “No, I’m not wrong - she’s there, I know she’s there!” I yelled at him. “You absolutely know she’s there - even though you can’t see her?” he asked me. “Yes,” I screamed. “Well, now you know how I feel about God,” said Owen Meany. “I can’t see him - but I absolutely know he is there!” This character, Owen Meany, models the kind of faith that spills out of the gospel text we read today. Owen’s full and complete faith in God is shown in how he “does not need to see, does not need signs and wonders; yet he believes and orients his whole life around this belief.” Today we encounter Thomas and his infamous “Doubts.” In the Easter gospel stories we heard of many folks who saw and then believed. Mary Magdalene, Peter and The Beloved Disciple, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus saw and believed in Jesus through their own experiences, such as when they shared in prayers and the breaking of bread. And in today’s reading, Jesus appeared among the disciples and proclaimed “Peace be with you.” In that visit, he showed them his hands and his side (the disciples saw his body) and the disciples rejoiced. Unfortunately, Thomas was not there during this visit. And, because Thomas did not see Jesus himself, he did not believe. "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe,”. Jesus returned the following week and (again arrived through shut doors) invited Thomas to examine his wounds up close. As soon as Thomas saw Jesus, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” It is unfair that Thomas takes the rap as a “doubter.” No one else in John's Easter account has believed without seeing. Well, the Beloved Disciple comes close, as he believed simply upon seeing the empty tomb and Jesus' grave-clothes. So why should we be so hard on Thomas for seeking the same chance that everyone else had, to see and then believe? Here’s the thing. The trouble is not that Thomas “doubted” Jesus, the real rub is that he rejected his friends’ testimony – the very friends with whom Thomas shared his life. The trouble is Thomas shattered the love and trust within the faithful community – that love and trust is a bedrock of expression for the work of Christ in their midst. The trouble is that Thomas emphatically expressed that he had to see it for himself – and that was a powerful sting for his faith community. He basically dis’d his friends and annulled their community values, saying that his friends’ eyes and his friends’ fingers were not enough. In recognizing the trouble, I began to wonder how I, and we, do not trust our faithful companions. Have we heard ourselves say recently, as I have, “I’ll believe it when I see it!”. What does that say about my beliefs? If love and trust are a bedrock of expression for the work of Christ in our midst, how am I, how are we, holding back too? Without love and trust in my faith community, how can I, or we, with our whole heart, seek and serve Christ in every person or strive for justice and peace among all people or respect the dignity of every human being? Perhaps, our mistrust of others is not because of any active choice we make, but stems from societal pressures. We are not enough. We are concerned what others might say. When we feel fragile, uncertain, and isolated (vulnerable) we tend to want to “see it for ourselves.” Brené Brown, professor of social work at Univ. of Houston, studies how our response to vulnerability gets in the way of relationships and mutuality. She says, quote, “Vulnerability is …the first thing I look for in you, and the last thing I'm going to show you." If we believe that to love and trust each other in community is as a bedrock of expression of Christ, we need to engage this paradox of vulnerability. Counter-intuitively, the more vulnerable you are with someone, the more likely you are to find a connection. In the Gospel, it seemed that Thomas did not want to appear vulnerable among his friends. He felt uncertain and isolated as the only one who had not seen. That mistrust broke down their community. And, DESPITE his actions, despite Thomas’s dis’ing his friends, despite his questions, Jesus saw him. And Jesus believed in him. In that moment, Jesus engaged his own vulnerability – his hands and his side – his wounds. In that moment, Jesus made the first move toward reconciliation with Thomas without any effort on Thomas’s part, and Jesus saw and believed him. Diana Butler Bass, explores how the word “believe” has undergone a striking change in usage over time. “To believe” translated in Latin as opinor or something like 'opinion.' Yet, in religious usage, “to believe” translated in Latin as credo, Something like "I set my heart upon' or 'I give my loyalty to.' “In medieval English, the concept of credo was translated as 'believe.' That means roughly the same thing as, in German, belieben, 'to prize, treasure, or hold dear. That comes from the root word Liebe, 'love'. Thus, in early English, to 'believe' was to 'belove' something or someone as an act or trust or loyalty. Belief was not an intellectual opinion..." Thus, Jesus saw Thomas. And “beloved” him, which emphatically and strikingly fueled Thomas’s response, “My Lord and my God!” Sufi mystic Rumi once said, “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” In this interaction, Jesus saw Thomas’s wounds of pride and entered them with light and love. Today’s good news is that Jesus sees us and “beloves” us. Jesus sees our wounds and enters them with light. Jesus sees us and believes in us in deep, profound ways. Meister Eckhart once said, “There is a place in the soul that neither time, nor space, nor any created thing can touch." That means that God, in Jesus, knows that your identity despite your wounds. God, in Jesus, lets light into that place in you where you have never been wounded, where there's still a sureness in you, and where there is a confidence and tranquility in you. Fr. Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest in Los Angeles who heads Homeboy Industries, employing former gang members in a variety of businesses. Jose is one of those former gang members and is now a man in recovery. Jose explained at a recent training that as a child, he had been beaten. Every. Single. Day. He said that he had to wear three T-shirts to school– well into his adult years because he was ashamed of his wounds. But now, Jose says, his wounds are his friends. “I welcome my wounds, I run my fingers over my wounds.” “How can I help the wounded if I don't welcome my own wounds?" In Jose’s life, in his broken journey of fleeing gangs and now seeking to better the world, Jesus came and saw his wounds, saw that place in his soul that neither time nor space had touched, and “beloved” him. We all have wounds. Jesus, welcomes them and touches them and heals them. God, through Jesus, has already made the first move by inviting you here today, behind these shut doors, to know him and be his beloved. In the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen believes in God and God’s work in his life, without clear-cut evidence or proof. His lifelong friend John does not have the same belief or strong opinions. What John does have is a confidence in his friend – and that carries him through his own skepticism and into a new life. In this way, today, we know how blessed we are who have not seen Jesus and yet have come to believe – and belove, as Jesus has believed in us, first. Inspired by Feasting on the Word, Second Sunday of Easter, Nancy Claire Pittman’s Homiletical Perspective p. 397. Ibid., p. 399 Diana Butler Bass, Christianity After Religion (New York, Harper-Collins, 2012) p. 117 the 14th-century German mystic
The Quran in the Courts For most of U.S. history, the Bible has been the centerpiece of the American way of life. It literally permeated national life—from its integral role in public school education to its influential place in American jurisprudence. Only within the last fifty years has the Bible’s prominence receded from public life. Still, some visible vestiges remain. For example, while many have abandoned the time-honored practice, some courts still use the Bible in the procedure for swearing in witnesses. However, like many other features of America’s Christian heritage, this practice is also being challenged. Muslims in Guilford County, North Carolina have attempted to donate copies of the Quran for courtroom use. However, Chief District Court Judge Joseph Turner says taking an oath on the Quran is not permissible by North Carolina state law, which specifies that witnesses shall place their hands on the “holy scriptures”—an unmistakable historical allusion to the Bible. Judge Turner commented: “We’ve been doing it that way for 200 years. Until the legislature changes that law, I believe I have to do what I’ve been told to do in the statutes” (“Debate Brews...,” 2005). However, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are challenging the Guilford County Courts. CAIR spokesman Arsalan Iftikhar insisted: “This was the first time that we had a judge ...going on record and stating unilaterally what is a holy scripture and what is not—what we believe to be a violation of the establishment clause” (“Debate Brews...”). Indeed! Really! Never mind the fact that the Founders of this nation—the architects of the Constitution, which Mr. Iftikhar so easily invokes, as well as the system of jurisprudence they set in place—indicated clearly their definition of what constitutes “holy scripture.” That definition does not square with the opinions of either CAIR or the ACLU. For example, James McHenry, a signer of the Constitution, stated emphatically: “[T]he Holy Scriptures ...can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions” (as quoted in Steiner, 1921, p. 14, emp. added). Like his contemporaries, McHenry defined “scripture” as the Bible. So did Benjamin Franklin who, at the age of 81, standing before the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on June 28, 1787, asserted: “We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” (as quoted in Madison, 1840, 2:985, emp. added). To what “sacred writings” did Franklin allude? The Quran? Absolutely not! His quotation of Psalm 127:1 and allusion to Babel in Genesis 11 make it undeniably clear that he “unilaterally” meant the Bible. Robert Winthrop, who was Speaker of the House in the 1840s, explained: “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet” (1852, p. 172, emp. added). Though this nation has been in existence for over two centuries, only recently has confusion arisen regarding which book on the planet constitutes the Word of God. Consider the words of John Adams—signer of the Declaration of Independence, two-time Vice-President under George Washington, and second President of the United States—written in 1756: “Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited.... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be” (1854, 2:6-7, emp. added). And in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on Christmas day, 1813, he wrote: “I have examined all [religions]... and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world” (1854, 10:85, emp. added). Patriot Patrick Henry declared: “[The Bible] is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed” (as quoted in Wirt, 1818, p. 402, emp. added). The first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, affirmed in a letter in 1784: “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next” (1980, 2:709, emp. added). Noah Webster noted: “The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of man” (1833, p. v, emp. added). U.S. Supreme Court justice Joseph Story, a Father of American Jurisprudence, insisted: “The Bible itself [is] the common inheritance, not merely of Christendom, but of the world” (1854, p. 259, emp. added). What do such statements imply about these Founders’ opinion of the Quran? Observe further that every President of the United States, beginning with George Washington, has been sworn into office by placing his hand on—not the Quran—but the Bible (see “Joint Congressional...,” 2005 and “Bibles and Scriptures...,” 2005). So what should be done? Should Muslims be allowed to use the Quran in court? Won’t they be more likely to tell the truth? Perhaps. But here is the bottom line: The fact that this issue has even arisen is evidence of the dilution of America’s Christian heritage, and the infiltration of alien ideologies that are destructive to the American way of life. The Founders believed these non-Christian religions to be bogus and detrimental to the Republic which they established. To permit the use of the Quran in court would be to afford it a measure of credibility, creating the impression that Islam is simply one religion among many that merits acknowledgment, legal and/or societal respect, and equal status with Christianity. The Founders never would have countenanced such a consideration. A“Father of American Jurisprudence,” New York State Supreme Court Chief Justice James Kent, in The People v. Ruggles in 1811, summarized the national attitude toward Islam that existed from the inception of the country: Nor are we bound, by any expressions in the constitution, as some have strangely supposed, either not to punish at all, or to punish indiscriminately the like attacks upon the religion of Mahomet or of the Grand Lama; and for this plain reason, that the case assumes that we are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of those imposters (8 Johns 290, emp. added). Adams, John (1854), The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Adams (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co.). “Bibles and Scripture Passages Used by Presidents in Taking the Oath of Office” (2005), Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pibible.htrnl. “Debate Brews Over Use of Koran in Court” (2005), Fox News, August 22, [On-line], URL: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166307,00.html. Jay, John (1980), John Jay: The Winning of the Peace. Unpublished Papers 1780-1784, ed. Richard Morris (New York: Harper). “Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies” (2005), [On-line], URL: http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/gwashin gtonl789.htm. Madison, James (1840), The Papers of James Madison, ed. Henry Gilpin (Washington: Langtree and O’Sullivan). The People v. Ruggles (1811), 8 Johns 290 (Sup. Ct. NY.), N.Y. Lexis 124. Steiner, Bernard (1921), One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Bible Society). Story, Joseph (1854), A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (New York: Harper). Webster, Noah (1833), The Holy Bible...With Amendments of the Language (New Haven, CT: Durrie & Peck). Winthrop, Robert (1852), Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co.). Wirt, William (1818), Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia, PA: James Webster).
Temporal range: Mid Devonian - Recent \|Athyrium filix-femina unrolling young frond\| A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. The group is also referred to as Polypodiophyta, or Polypodiopsida when treated as a subdivision of tracheophyta (vascular plants). The study of ferns and other pteridophytes is called pteridology, and one who studies ferns and other pteridophytes is called a pteridologist. The term " pteridophyte" has traditionally been used to describe all seedless vascular plants, making it synonymous with "ferns and fern allies". This can be confusing since members of the fern phylum Pteridophyta are also sometimes referred to as pteridophytes. Ferns are vascular plants differing from the more primitive lycophytes by having true leaves (megaphylls), and they differ from seed plants ( gymnosperms and angiosperms) in their mode of reproduction - lacking flowers and seeds. Like all other vascular plants, they have a life cycle referred to as alternation of generations, characterized by a diploid sporophytic and a haploid gametophytic phase. Unlike the gymnosperms and angiosperms, the ferns' gametophyte is a free-living organism. The life cycle of a typical fern is as follows: - A sporophyte ( diploid) phase produces haploid spores by meiosis; - A spore grows by mitosis into a gametophyte, which typically consists of a photosynthetic prothallus - The gametophyte produces gametes (often both sperm and eggs on the same prothallus) by mitosis - A mobile, flagellate sperm fertilizes an egg that remains attached to the prothallus - The fertilized egg is now a diploid zygote and grows by mitosis into a sporophyte (the typical "fern" plant). The stereotypic image of ferns growing in moist shady woodland nooks is far from being a complete picture of the habitats where ferns can be found growing. Fern species live in a wide variety of habitats, from remote mountain elevations, to dry desert rock faces, to bodies of water or in open fields. Ferns in general may be thought of as largely being specialists in marginal habitats, often succeeding in places where various environmental factors limit the success of flowering plants. Some ferns are among the world's most serious weed species, including the bracken fern growing in the British highlands, or the mosquito fern ( Azolla) growing in tropical lakes, both species form large aggressively spreading colonies. There are four particular types of habitats that ferns are found in: moist, shady forests; crevices in rock faces, especially when sheltered from the full sun; acid wetlands including bogs and swamps; and tropical trees, where many species are epiphytes. Many ferns depend on associations with mycorrhizal fungi. Many ferns only grow within specific pH ranges; for instance, the climbing fern ( Lygodium) of eastern North America will only grow in moist, intensely acid soils, while the bulblet bladder fern ( Cystopteris bulbifera), with an overlapping range, is only ever found on limestone. Like the sporophytes of seed plants, those of ferns consist of: - Stems: Most often an underground creeping rhizome, but sometimes an above-ground creeping stolon (e.g., Polypodiaceae), or an above-ground erect semi-woody trunk (e.g., Cyatheaceae) reaching up to 20 m in a few species (e.g., Cyathea brownii on Norfolk Island and Cyathea medullaris in New Zealand). - Leaf: The green, photosynthetic part of the plant. In ferns, it is often referred to as a frond, but this is because of the historical division between people who study ferns and people who study seed plants, rather than because of differences in structure. New leaves typically expand by the unrolling of a tight spiral called a crozier or fiddlehead. This uncurling of the leaf is termed circinate vernation. Leaves are divided into three types: - Trophophyll: A leaf that does not produce spores, instead only producing sugars by photosynthesis. Analogous to the typical green leaves of seed plants. - Sporophyll: A leaf that produces spores. These leaves are analogous to the scales of pine cones or to stamens and pistil in gymnosperms and angiosperms, respectively. Unlike the seed plants, however, the sporophylls of ferns are typically not very specialized, looking similar to trophophylls and producing sugars by photosynthesis as the trophophylls do. - Brophophyll: A leaf that produces abnormally large amounts of spores. There leaves are also larger than the other leaves but bare a resemblance to trophopylls. - Roots: The underground non-photosynthetic structures that take up water and nutrients from soil. They are always fibrous and are structurally very similar to the roots of seed plants. The gametophytes of ferns, however, are very different from those of seed plants. They typically consist of: - Prothallus: A green, photosynthetic structure that is one cell thick, usually heart or kidney shaped, 3-10 mm long and 2-8 mm broad. The prothallus produces gametes by means of: - Antheridia: Small spherical structures that produce flagellate sperm. - Archegonia: A flask-shaped structure that produces a single egg at the bottom, reached by the sperm by swimming down the neck. - Rhizoids: root-like structures (not true roots) that consist of single greatly-elongated cells, water and mineral salts are absorbed over the whole structure. Rhizoids anchor the prothallus to the soil. One interesting difference between sporophytes and gametophytes might be summed up by the saying that "Nothing eats ferns, but everything eats gametophytes." This is an over-simplification, but it is true that gametophytes are often difficult to find in the field because they are far more likely to be food than are the sporophytes. Evolution and classification Ferns first appear in the fossil record in the early-Carboniferous period. By the Triassic, the first evidence of ferns related to several modern families appeared. The "great fern radiation" occurred in the late-Cretaceous, when many modern families of ferns first appeared. Ferns have traditionally been grouped in the Class Filices, but modern classifications assign them their own division in the plant kingdom, called Pteridophyta. Traditionally, three discrete groups of plants have been considered ferns: two groups of eusporangiate ferns--families Ophioglossaceae ( adders-tongues, moonworts, and grape-ferns) and Marattiaceae--and the leptosporangiate ferns. The Marattiaceae are a primitive group of tropical ferns with a large, fleshy rhizome, and are now thought to be a sibling taxon to the main group of ferns, the leptosporangiate ferns. Several other groups of plants were considered " fern allies": the clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts in the Lycopodiophyta, the whisk ferns in Psilotaceae, and the horsetails in the Equisetaceae. More recent genetic studies have shown that the Lycopodiophyta are only distantly related to any other vascular plants, having radiated evolutionarily at the base of the vascular plant clade, while both the whisk ferns and horsetails are as much "true" ferns as are the Ophioglossoids and Marattiaceae. In fact, the whisk ferns and Ophioglossoids are demonstrably a clade, and the horsetails and Marattiaceae are arguably another clade. Molecular data - which remain poorly constrained for many parts of the plants' phylogeny - have been supplemented by recent morphological observations supporting the inclusion of Equisetaceae within the ferns, notably relating to the construction of their sperm, and peculiarities of their roots (Smith et al 2006, and references therein). One possible means of treating this situation is to consider only the leptosporangiate ferns as "true" ferns, while considering the other three groups as "fern allies". In practice, numerous classification schemes have been proposed for ferns and fern allies, and there has been little consensus among them. A new classification by Smith et al. (2006) is based on recent molecular systematic studies, in addition to morphological data. This classification divides ferns into four classes: The last group includes most plants familiarly known as ferns. Modern research supports older ideas based on morphology that the Osmundaceae diverged early in the evolutionary history of the leptosporangiate ferns; in certain ways this family is intermediate between the eusporangiate ferns and the leptosporangiate ferns. The complete classification scheme proposed by Smith et al. (2006; alternative names in brackets): - Class Psilotopsida - Order Ophioglossales - Family Ophioglossaceae (incl. Botrychiaceae, Helminthostachyaceae) - Order Psilotales - Family Psilotaceae (incl. Tmesipteridaceae) - Order Ophioglossales - Class Equisetopsida [=Sphenopsida] - Order Equisetales - Family Equisetaceae - Order Equisetales - Class Marattiopsida - Order Marattiales - Family Marattiaceae (incl. Angiopteridaceae, Christenseniaceae, Danaeaceae, Kaulfussiaceae) - Order Marattiales - Class Pteridopsida [=Filicopsida, Polypodiopsida] - Order Osmundales - Family Osmundaceae - Order Hymenophyllales - Family Hymenophyllaceae (incl. Trichomanaceae) - Order Gleicheniales - Family Gleicheniaceae (incl. Dicranopteridaceae, Stromatopteridaceae) - Family Dipteridaceae (incl. Cheiropleuriaceae) - Family Matoniaceae - Order Schizaeales - Family Lygodiaceae - Family Anemiaceae (incl. Mohriaceae) - Family Schizaeaceae - Order Salviniales - Family Marsileaceae (incl. Pilulariaceae) - Family Salviniaceae (incl. Azollaceae) - Order Cyatheales - Family Thyrsopteridaceae - Family Loxomataceae - Family Culcitaceae - Family Plagiogyriaceae - Family Cibotiaceae - Family Cyatheaceae (incl. Alsophilaceae, Hymenophyllopsidaceae) - Family Dicksoniaceae (incl. Lophosoriaceae) - Family Metaxyaceae - Order Polypodiales - Family Lindsaeaceae (incl. Cystodiaceae, Lonchitidaceae) - Family Saccolomataceae - Family Dennstaedtiaceae (incl. Hypolepidaceae, Monachosoraceae, Pteridiaceae) - Family Pteridaceae (incl. Acrostichaceae, Actiniopteridaceae, Adiantaceae, Anopteraceae, Antrophyaceae, Ceratopteridaceae, Cheilanthaceae, Cryptogrammaceae, Hemionitidaceae, Negripteridaceae, Parkeriaceae, Platyzomataceae, Sinopteridaceae, Taenitidaceae, Vittariaceae) - Family Aspleniaceae - Family Thelypteridaceae - Family Woodsiaceae (incl. Athyriaceae, Cystopteridaceae) - Family Blechnaceae (incl. Stenochlaenaceae) - Family Onocleaceae - Family Dryopteridaceae (incl. Aspidiaceae, Bolbitidaceae, Elaphoglossaceae, Hypodematiaceae, Peranemataceae) - Family Oleandraceae - Family Davalliaceae - Family Polypodiaceae (incl. Drynariaceae, Grammitidaceae, Gymnogrammitidaceae, Loxogrammaceae, Platyceriaceae, Pleurisoriopsidaceae) - Order Osmundales Ferns are not as important economically as seed plants but have considerable importance. Some ferns are used for food, including the fiddleheads of bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, and cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinnamomea]. Diplazium esculentum is also used by some tropical peoples as food. Ferns of the genus Azolla are very small, floating plants that do not look like ferns. Called mosquito fern, they are used as a biological fertilizer in the rice paddies of southeast Asia, taking advantage of their ability to fix nitrogen from the air into compounds that can then be used by other plants. A great many ferns are grown in horticulture as landscape plants, for cut foliage and as houseplants, especially the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata). The Bird's Nest Fern, Asplenium nidus, is also popular, and the staghorn ferns, genus Platycerium, have a considerable following. Several ferns are noxious weeds or invasive species, including Japanese climbing fern ( Lygodium japonicum), mosquito fern and sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis). Giant water fern ( Salvinia molesta) is one of the world's worst aquatic weeds. The important fossil fuel coal consists of the remains of primitive plants, including ferns. Ferns have been studied and found to be useful in the removal of heavy metals, especially arsenic, from the soil Other ferns with some economic significance include: - Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern), used as a vermifuge, and formerly in the US Pharmacopeia; also, this fern accidentally sprouting in a bottle resulted in Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's 1829 invention of the terrarium or Wardian case - Rumohra adiantoides (floral fern), extensively used in the florist trade - Osmunda regalis (royal fern) and Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern), the root fibre being used horticulturally; the fiddleheads of O. cinnamomea are also used as a cooked vegetable - Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern), the fiddleheads used as a cooked vegetable in North America - Pteridium aquilinum (bracken), the fiddleheads used as a cooked vegetable in Japan and are believed to be responsible for the high rate of stomach cancer in Japan. It is also one of the world's most important agricultural weeds, especially in the British highlands, and often poisons cattle and horses. - Diplazium esculentum (vegetable fern), a source of food for some native societies - Pteris vittata (brake fern), used to absorb arsenic from the soil - Polypodium glycyrrhiza (licorice fern), roots chewed for their pleasant flavor - Tree ferns, used as building material in some tropical areas - Cyathea cooperi (Australian tree fern), an important invasive species in Hawaii - Ceratopteris richardii, a model plant for teaching and research, often called C-fern In Slavic folklore, ferns are believed to bloom once a year, during the Ivan Kupala night. Although it's exceedingly difficult to find, anyone who takes a look of a fern flower will be happy and rich for the rest of his life. Similarly in Finland, the tradition holds that one who finds the seed of a fern in bloom on Midsummer night, will by the possession of it be able to travel under a glamour of invisibility and shall be guided to the locations where eternally blazing Will o' the wisps mark the spot of hidden treasure caches. Ferns were popular as a decorative motif in Victorian England, the designs frequently appeared on crockery, glassware, cast iron objects, and textiles. The fashion for growing ferns indoors led to the development of the Wardian case, a glazed cabinet that would exclude air pollutants and maintain the necessary humidity. The dried form of ferns was also used in other arts, being used a stencil or directly inked for use in a design. The botanical work, The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland, is a notable example of this type of nature printing. The process, patented by the artist and publisher Henry Bradbury, impressed a specimen on to a soft lead plate. The first publication to demonstrate this was Alois Auer's The Discovery of the Nature Printing-Process. Ferns are sometimes used in medicine to treat cuts and clean them out. Ferns are also good bandages if you are stuck out in the wild. Several non-fern plants are called "ferns" and are sometimes confused with true ferns. These include: - "Asparagus fern" - This may apply to one of several species of the monocot genus Asparagus, which are flowering plants. - "Sweetfern" - A flowering shrub of the genus Comptonia. - " Air fern" - A group of animals called hydrozoan that are distantly related to jellyfish and corals. They are harvested, dried, dyed green, and then sold as a "plant" that can "live on air". While it may look like a fern, it is merely the skeleton of this colonial animal. In addition, the book Where the Red Fern Grows has elicited many questions about the mythical "red fern" named in the book. There is no such known plant, although there has been speculation that the oblique grape-fern, Sceptridium dissectum, could be referred to here, because it is known to appear on disturbed sites and its fronds may redden over the winter.
Argus Report: ACA webpage problems inexcusable, another example of federal government failing to get the job done, could have happened regardless of party running the administration Florida: Top county economic development agency in Fla. gets new Chair, top banker Anderson & CEO Williams at Beacon Council gala luncheon — LAST WK WDR: In a few weeks all state and county leaders’ financial disclosures will be on line, some are there now, www.ethics.state.fl.us, sea change for transparency of elected official’s finances Miami-Dade County: Homeless Trust and City of Miami considering cracking down on groups feeding homeless downtown, Mayor Regalado acknowledges it could be national media nightmare Public Health Trust: Supporters continue to sell the idea of $830 million bond passage for JHS, will likely pass, but there are skeptics who want real oversight on how money spent City of Miami: Commissioner Spence-Jones says sayonara to the dais, but will she come back in a CRA top post if Hardemon wins Dist 5 race? Village of Coconut Grove: Home invasion shooting has Grovites on edge City of Miami Beach: Both mayoral candidates Gongora and Levine say they will keep Mgr. Morales if elected mayor on Nov.5 Village of Key Biscayne: PUBLIC WORKS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF THE RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICE AND PARKING FACILITY >>> Other stories around Florida Broward County: County School Board vice Chair Good in the spotlight, first elected in 2010, had $172,000 net worth through 2012 City of Parkland: Three South Floridians Convicted in $2.2 Million Dollar Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme Palm Beach County: School Board Chair Shaw in the spotlight, first elected in 2010, had $1.5 million net worth through 2012, has no debt Residents can review they’re top County Officials financial disclosure forms on line at http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm West Palm Beach: Two More Defendants Sentenced in Staged Automobile Accident Scheme Orange County: Man Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Indian River County: Vero Beach Resident Sentenced for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methylone and Firearm Charges Hendry County: Gov. Scott taps Michael Swindle to County Board of Commissioners Monroe County: School Board Chair Dick in the spotlight, first elected in 2006, had $571,000 net worth through 2012 — to read all Monroe County constitutional officers’ financial disclosure forms go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm Community Events: — TedX Miami event at Arsht Center Editorials: Campaign supporters do no favors when they talk to candidates about a election in public buildings, it’s against the law, and could hurt your chosen one — Check out the past 2003 national story in the Tribune papers: Paperwork Tiger By Maya Bell, Miami Bureau, Orlando Sun-Sentinel January 20, 2003 >>> And a 2004 UNC Chapel Hill study of the Southeast United States 15 states media outlet study where the Watchdog Report is listed as writing a “influential” column in Florida with over 100,000 readers: http://www.unc.edu/~davismt/SouthNow.pdf Letters: Reader on now deceased Miami Commissioner Teele’s concern about the digital divide in the community – Readers on my feeling better after getting the flu, thanks for the many kind words from WDR readers Sponsors: Publisher’s mission statement & Subscription information is at the bottom of this issue — Scroll down for all the headline stories text. >>> Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean politics will not take an interest in you. –Pericles (430 B.C.) >>> If you wish to be deleted, just e-mail me with that message and you are free to e-mail this on to friends. >>> The Watchdog Report publisher would like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation www.knightfoundation.org for funding by the Knight Foundation with technical support from the Knight Center for International Media http://knight.miami.edu within the University of Miami’s School of Communication www.miami.edu to maintain my webpage. The Watchdog Report webpage is free, has no ads, pops-up and is just the news in a mainstream reporting manner. >>> Red Alert To All: If you think it is important to have an alternative mainstream news service, I hope you will consider becoming a financial supporter for I do have to live and pay my rent. I also want to thank again all those people and organizations that have supported me and I have been honored by that trust and support of my efforts over the past almost 14 years trying to keep the community, state, nation and world informed of the political and governmental happenings in South Florida. How to support and contribute to the WDR is at the bottom of the report. Thank You >>> CORRECTION: The next meeting of the Miami-Dade County Inspector General Selection Committee is Nov. 4, not the date I previously reported last week. ARGUS REPORT – Heard, Seen on the Street >>> ACA webpage problems inexcusable, another example of federal government failing to get the job done, could have happened regardless of party running the administration The fact the website to allow tens of millions of Americans to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is flawed and only went through a couple of weeks of tests before it went live has sent another ripple through the public that government just can’t seem to do anything right, regardless of the political party. The President Barack Obama administration spent almost $400 million to pay a Canadian Company to build the site, but it has been plagued by a host of issues and only a small percentage of people have been able to successfully navigate the program and politicians from both parties have gone ballistic at the software glitches that should have been caught months earlier. And now Obama is scrambling to get the software fixed, and while eventually that may be done. The federal Health and Human Services Department and its CMS operations are wearing a huge black eye, and while the public understands the great complexity of the challenge. The fact federal officials did not do the mandatory pre-testing in a sufficient manner is mind boggling to the average American. Obama addressed the nation last week about the problems and glitches and yes ACA is more than about a webpage, but this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to signing up for healthcare and the performance to date is inexcusable. Though his new technology czar assigned the challenge has stated he believes the problems on the web site will be corrected by the end of November. >>> http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/obama-affordable-care-act-glitches-98601.html and to see The White House webpage on the matter go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/10/26/weekly-address-enrolling-affordable-care-act- marketplace?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=102613-video And to read Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s salient column this week on the matter and the issue of federal government competence go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/26/3711620/competence-matters-then-and-now.html >>> Press release: Supporting Legislation to Assist our Children, Ros-Lehtinen States Our First Priority Must be Providing Necessary Resources for Their Development “Our children should always have all the necessary resources needed to learn in school and grow up in a healthy and happy home.” Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior member of Florida’s Congressional delegation, announced her support for H.R. 2083, the Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act, and H.R. 3205, the Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act. The Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act would require only qualified adults be authorized as school employees and the Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act would reauthorize and restructure the adoption incentives grant program to promote adoption. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen: “I’m proud to support two important pieces of legislation that will assist our children. They should be able to look forward to a stable home where they can live and study effectively. We must also ensure that they are directed by only qualified personnel during the school day. Our children should always have all the necessary resources needed to learn in school and grow up in a healthy and happy home.” >>> Zogby Report Card: Obama has lost our trust Press release: John Zogby’s Obama Weekly Report Card is Featured in Paul Bedard’s “Washington Secrets” Published weekly in The Washington Examiner Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama has put himself in a horrible position with the failed Obamacare website and indefensible spying on foreign allies. There is no positive spin for the president this week. A weak jobs report and record numbers out of the workforce. Please click on the link below to view this week’s grade: >>> Men Charged with Alien Smuggling Resulting in Death After Boat Capsizes, Four Die Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and Rear Admiral John H. Korn, Commander, 7th Coast Guard District, announce the indictment of six defendants following last week’s vessel capsize that resulted in the deaths of four women. The twenty-four count indictment returned today by a federal Grand Jury, charges Naaman Davis, 53, and George Lewis, 38, both of the Bahamas, with conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I), and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv). Davis is additionally charged with involuntary manslaughter, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1112, and illegal reentry into the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a). Lewis is also charged with illegal reentry into the United States by an aggravated felon, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a) and (b)(2). In addition, three other individuals who were onboard the vessel, Matthew Williams, 30, Everton Jones, a/k/a “Everton Bryce,” 40, and Kenard Hagigal, 35, all of Jamaica, were charged with illegal reentry into the United States by an aggravated felon, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a) and (b)(2). A fourth passenger, Sean Gaynor, 37, of Jamaica, was charged with illegal reentry into the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a). If convicted, Davis and Lewis face a maximum sentence of life in prison or death; Williams, Jones, Bryce, and Hagigal face a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison; and Gaynor faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the U.S. Coast Guard. This case is being handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Blackburn. >>> An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. >>> A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. >>> Top county economic development agency in Fl., gets new Chair Anderson & CEO Williams at Beacon Council luncheon gala The Beacon Council leadership at its Annual Luncheon passed the leadership torch on Thursday and the Council’s newly installed Chair Sheldon T. Anderson reaffirmed the new course the business development organization is taking and includes new CEO Larry K. Williams who took over earlier in the month. The Council had been under the political gun over the past year with Miami-Dade County Commissioners Sally Heyman and Vice Chair Lynda Bell and the Mayor Carlos Gimenez all being critical of the organization’s past top executive and ultimately resulted in the retirement of long serving CEO Frank Nero and Williams being selected after a national search had been done. Anderson, the President and CEO of the Southeast Region for Northern Trust Corporation in his remarks gave a compelling and heart warming trip down his family’s history since coming to America from the Bahamas a Century ago. He said his family and life are part of “The American Dream,” and he understood the role of small business in a community since that was what his father was. And he noted the Beacon Council would consider changing its name possible to include some reference to Miami, and the organization “Has learned to listen,” to its elected leaders who felt the Council was not doing enough to help local small businesses and were only going after high ticket business development, like a $100 million new Boeing Simulator hub that came to Miami-Dade last year. And the Beacon Council last year “assisted 33 companies, who have committed to bringing nearly 2,500 direct jobs and more than $535 million in capital investment to this area,” state’s Council documents. Anderson took the gavel from Joseph W. Pallot who had been in the hot seat for the past year, but his term as chairman was praised for his poise, good humor and focus on the job at hand that included the transition of leadership, and opening up more dialogue with elected officials. www.beaconcouncil.com and a bio on Anderson http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Sheldon-Anderson/29094145 and for more on the event go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/24/3709507/new-beacon-council-leader-hints.html >>> And if you ever thought about adopting a child, check out the great kids on the Children’s Trust’s Heart Gallery page http://www.miamiheartgallery.org/#start looking for a home and great new parents. >>> Children’s Movement of Florida Voices of Florida – We all have a story, a story that defines us. It is our collective story, our challenges and our triumphs that inspire a movement. Floridians from all walks of life have joined together with an understanding that the future of our state rests on the well-being of our children. Visit The Children’s Movement website to read their stories and share your own. >>> I find it unacceptable, as all of us should, that at least a half-million children in Florida – all citizens — have no health insurance. How could this be in our beloved country that seeks to be a beacon to the world? Health insurance for all children is one of the five major planks of The Children’s Movement. With the support of Florida Covering Kids and Families, The Children’s Movement is working with dozens of local partners to help build a meaningful signing-up initiative in more than a dozen Florida communities. Already we have: Completed 18 KidCare trainings around the state. Signed up, trained and deployed more than a hundred volunteers. Begun to build a growing collaboration between local school districts and KidCare outreach coalitions. It’s a good start, but only the start. If you’d like to become a volunteer, just click here. Another way to help is to make a contribution – of any size – to help support this work. It is easy. Just click here. A real movement isn’t possible without your helping in some meaningful way. Dave Lawrence, Jr., Chair The Children’s Movement. >>> Homeless Trust and City of Miami considering cracking down on groups feeding homeless downtown, Mayor Regalado acknowledges it could be national media nightmare The Miami-Dade Homeless Trust met Friday in the county commission chambers and the issue of out door feeding of the homeless people on the street was a hot button discussion. Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, a member of the Trust during the debate, “appealed to the board to pass” a resolution that would endorse the Miami Police arresting people that feed the homeless out doors where sanitary issues, human waste and food preparation is of big concern. The Trust and the City had crafted a deal in 2006 to have around five indoor sites where the feeding could take place, there was proper food preparation and bathrooms were available and “over 59” organizations and churches followed the guidelines for a few years (And was reported extensively back then in the Watchdog Report) . However, a Miami CRA drove one church site to close and another, Camillus House moved its operations to near Jackson Memorial Hospital and tore down it’s old site downtown. Regalado said he knows there will be a major media blowback if the police start arresting these people that are feeding the homeless, many of whom belong to churches and some of these people come as far away as “West Palm Beach to Naples,” said Regalado. “They come with 100 watt amplifiers,” many times have a “disc jockey,” and it is a “God send party,” and “if we are going to crash that party,” it will “be on the front page of The Miami Herald, the mayor up for reelection said to trustees. He noted when a “sister,” of the Mother Teresa Order was arrested for feeding the homeless a few years ago. There was a public and media firestorm when she was “arrested,” and she had to be “un-arrested,” said Regalado. Ron Book the Trust chair noted the day before a sub committee discussed the idea of having a new “Temporary,” trial-feeding program but that idea was shot down by DDA representatives on the committee. He noted along with the mayor that there are laws that could be used to stop these people feeding the homeless on the streets. Since they are creating traffic issues, unsanitary conditions and littering on the city streets, but for the moment the police are not enforcing this. Because “Miami police don’t want to be seen as the bad guys,” said the mayor, and this is why he was asking for some political cover, when it came to this issue and was why he is requesting the resolution from the Trust on the matter. Any new members on the large Trust board? Jay Solowsky, an a attorney has been appointed to the City of Miami Manager’s slot on the 27 member board and he is also on the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board, and he is close to Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and the commissioner has a law office in Solowsky’s office. Moreover, the new trustee is expected to become a frequent critique of how the Trust deals with the issue of the chronic homeless downtown that over the last year has been a hot topic with the DDA. What about the Chapman Partnership Agreement contract extension with the Trust? The Homeless Trust board on Friday also passed a five-year renewal agreement with the not-for-profit Chapman Partnership www.chapmanpartnership.org , the anchor not-for-profit organization that provides homeless shelter and continuum of care services for the Trust and runs homeless centers in Miami and in Homestead. The organization has had this role since it was competitively bid back in 1993 when the Trust started and Book likened the relationship similar to a “marriage,” and while there were disagreements over the years. The two organizations have prevailed through “sickness and health,” and have worked out any issues over the years and Book believed such a close working relationship with such an organization was unique in the nation. >>> Veterans of Vietnam & Bay of Pigs invasion to be honored in a parade Nov. 8 down Flagler St. County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz is putting the finishing touches for the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the veterans of Vietnam and the Bay of Pigs and the Golden Veterans Parade is going to be held Nov. 8 along Flagler Street in downtown Miami. Diaz a Marine veteran believes the soldiers that fought in both conflicts have never gotten an official welcome by the community they deserved and hence this upcoming event honoring the soldiers who served their nation. >>> RIBFEST RETURNS TO ZOO MIAMI WITH SIZZLING ENTERTAINMENT AND BBQ Press release: The racks are back as Ribfest returns to Zoo Miami November 1-3, 2013, for a weekend jam-packed with finger-licking barbecue and entertainment for the entire family. Enjoy award-winning barbecue from seven of the finest ribbers in the nation competing to win “best of” in five categories, including best ribs, pork, beef brisket, chicken and sauce. The winners will be selected in a blind taste test by a panel of celebrity judges to include Chef Ralph Pagano from season one of Hell’s Kitchen, Zoo Miami’s very own Ron Magill, Kiss Country’s Darlene Evans and others. Winners will be announced on Sunday at 4 p.m. In addition to great barbecue, patrons will enjoy all-day live rock and country music concerts by popular local bands including The Mojo Scoundrels, Havoc 305, The Click, The Vibe, Fire Brigade, Burnt Biscuit Band, Gypsy Road, Payback, and the Rodeo Clowns. There will be live remotes from Country music favorites Thunder Country with Dougie Hitchcock on Sunday, and Kiss Country with Darlene Evans on Saturday. Don’t miss beer-inspired cooking demonstrations and pairings throughout each day at the Chef’s Corner beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday; or purchase home-grown Florida produce and products at the Farmers Market. Harley Davidson fans don’t miss out on the “Jumpstart” demonstration and motorcycle rally, or if you prefer cars, check out Homestead-Miami Speedway’s authentic NASCAR or test drive a brand new Chevrolet on site. Other activities include hay rides, arts & crafts vendors, themed photo opportunities, and more. Purchase Zoo Miami/Ribfest combo tickets to enjoy a wild day at the zoo; or enjoy Ribfest as a VIP with VIP tickets that include General Admission; a VIP meal (½ rack of ribs, baked beans, cole slaw and dinner roll); 6 beers from an expanded craft/seasonal beer selection to include Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest, Batch 19, Blue Moon Rounder, Crispin Cider, Fox Barrel Pear, Linenkugel Orange, Third Shift and Blue Moon Short Straw; an event koozie; access to shaded lounge area; and comfort station restrooms. “We are delighted that Zoo Miami will once again be the site for this year’s Ribfest bringing one of our most popular events to one of our most popular park attractions, providing quality entertainment at an affordable price to Miami-Dade County constituents,” said Jack Kardys, director of Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. “This is a great time for our County family to come together not only to enjoy the outdoors but to enjoy the finest Rib’s that Miami-Dade has to offer. I take great pride to participate in events that take place here in my district,” said Commissioner Dennis C. Moss Ribfest hours of operation and ticket information: Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Free admission and a free side with the purchase of a half-rack or whole rack of ribs. Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. General admission: $10; Ribfest/Zoo Miami combo: $20; and VIP: $75 which includes general admission ticket; a VIP meal (½ rack of ribs, baked beans, cole slaw and dinner roll); 6 beers from an expanded craft/seasonal beer selection to include Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest, Batch 19, Blue Moon Rounder, Crispin Cider, Fox Barrel Pear, Linenkugel Orange, Third Shift and Blue Moon Short Straw; an event koozie; access to shaded lounge area and comfort station restrooms. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.miamiribfest.com or at the door. For more information or to become a vendor, please visit www.miamiribfest.com. For information about Miami-Dade County Parks call 3-1-1, or visit www.miamidade.gov/parks/. For more information, please visit www.zoomiami.org or call (305) 251-0400. Its mission is to encourage an appreciation for the world’s wildlife and to help conserve it for future generations. For more information, please visit www.zsf.org or call (305) 255-5551. >>> And to review all the Miami-Dade County Commissioners financial disclosure forms for the year go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm?org_id=214439&suborg_id=233972&Mode=By_SubOrg >>> GMCVB press release: TOP STORY – TAXABLE SALES IN RESTAURANTS In the months of January – August 2013, Taxable Sales in Restaurants for Greater Miami saw an increase of +6.3% when compared to the same time period in 2012. \|Taxable Sales in Restaurants\| \|January – August 2012\|\|January – August 2012\|\|% Change vs. 2012\| \|$3.3 billion\|\|$3.1 billion\|\|+6.3%\| PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST >>> Supporters continue to sell the idea of $830 million bond passage for JHS, will likely pass, but there are skeptics who want real oversight on how money spent The Watchdog Report continues to listen to Miami-Dade residents comments about the passage of an $830 million bond for JHS on Nov. 5, and while many people support the need for the funding. Many of them are scared to death about what will happen when the county commission starts to get more involved with the Jackson Health System (JHS) when the current President and CEO Carlos Migoya leaves this leadership post in the years to come. Migoya has said he will stay for a few more years but the concern is when he is gone. Will JHS once again fall under he political gaze of the county commission and possible go back to its old ways of running in the red, versus running in the black after Migoya was able to turnaround the fiscal hemorrhaging over the past years since he took over in May 2010 along with extensive help from the unions and their workers taking major concessions in compensation. Over the years JHS has had a series of Presidents & CEOs and this turnover of top management has inhibited the organization from following a long-term strategy that hopefully this new funding will help bring to fruition. However, the concern among critics of the governance model still exists, versus having an independent not-for-profit model of governance. In addition, while the Watchdog Report believes the funding request of the community will pass with countywide voters, though it will be close. If the county commission does not allow JHS to use this new money straight up, that has the support of a host of community leaders who have helped pay for the $1.3 million outreach push and some polling of voter approval. The 13-member body might as well forget ever going to the public well again for major projects that require public funding. For these will never be passed again if this new money is approved, but spent unwisely and with little oversight over the years it flows into the health trust’s coffers. CITY OF MIAMI >>> Commissioner Spence-Jones says sayonara to the dais, but will she come back in a CRA top post if Hardemon wins Dist 5 race? Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones said sayonara from the dais on Thursday, her last time on the body since she is termed out and will be replaced after the Nov. 5 general election that has four candidates vyeing for the District 5 Commission seat. http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/City_Clerk/Pages/Elections/QualifiedCandidates.asp What about Spence-Jones and the CRA top spot? Spence-Jones told the Watchdog Report that she is supporting Keon Hardeman in the race over former Miami Commissioner Richard Dunn, II, educator Dr. Robert Malone, Jr. and children’s advocate maven Jacquie Colyer. However, a reliable source says Spence-Jones is also planning not to drop out of sight if Hardemon, an assistant public defender wins. In addition, she is telling people that she would like to take over a Miami Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) and that she would be appointed to such a post if Hardemon wins the race where a runoff is expected after the Nov. 5 election. >>> Commissioner Sarnoff tries kumbaya move at beginning of commission meeting Thursday, trying to tamp down critics of Grove Bay development project Commission Chair Marc Sarnoff went off script at the beginning of the commission meeting Thursday when he took an almost spiritual journey trying to mend fences concerning Grovites who have the right to their own opinion, but not their own facts. Moreover, at the end of the soliloquy, he asked everyone in the audience to look at the person next to them and welcome them to the meeting as if they were “brothers and sisters,” and we would be better “people,” if that were how we treated people. And he reminded people that there was “no reason for a debate to turn personal,” and asked the attendees to turn to their neighbor and say “I care for you, I will listen to you, but I will make my own well informed decision,” the long serving commissioner said. Sarnoff has been in a bruising battle over the development of the Grove waterfront with local Grovites. His past natural constituency since years ago in 2006 when he first ran and they gave him a victory again in a nail bitter of a reelection campaign where by a hair he avoided a runoff in the low turnout municipal election back in 2011, and he faced four challengers. However, the Grove Bay development has erupted into a major Grove issue, though they should have been challenging the deal almost a year ago, and it is now on the ballot, and since it is a citywide vote. The development will most likely be approved, because there are not enough Grove voters to turn the tide. However, the issue has made the attorney a pariah in some circles in the Grove and many of the critics were part of his initial almost cult group of followers, but much of that adulation of the commissioner has changed now in the locals minds. >>> Mayor Regalado says Mgr. Martinez should be back to the office by the time of his swearing in if the mayor is elected again Mayor Tomas Regalado told the Watchdog Report on Friday that he expects Manager Johnny Martinez to be back on the job by the time he is sworn into office if he wins the election. Martinez has been absent from the post the last few months, since he had a stroke and has been recovering and he also had a pacemaker inserted for a cardiac arrhythmia. Sine his absence, Daniel Alphonso has been the acting manager and during his tenure the former county budget employee has received high marks for his performance in the job. >>> Third Defendant Sentenced in $14 Million Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Matthew Boyd, Chief, Miami Gardens Police Department, and Larry Gomer, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, announce that defendant Serge St-Vil, 61, of Miami, was sentenced today for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $14 million in fraudulent refund claims. St-Vil was sentenced to 96 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $7 million forfeiture money judgment. St-Vil previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and one count of aggravated identity theft in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A. According to court documents, in 2010, St-Vil, Muller Pierre, and Finshley Fanor were involved in a scheme to file fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns seeking refunds. During the course of the scheme, there were over 5,000 fraudulent and unauthorized returns submitted to the Internal Revenue Service seeking over $14 million in refunds. Nearly all of these returns were submitted in the names of deceased persons. St-Vil was responsible for the filing of thousands of these returns using an Electronic Filing Identification Number obtained by Fanor. Court documents show that the Internal Revenue Service paid out $12.1 million in refunds into bank accounts controlled by the defendants and co-conspirators connected to the scheme. There was over $6 million in refunds deposited into accounts controlled directly by St-Vil and an additional $1.6 million deposited indirectly into St-Vil’s bank account from co-conspirators’ accounts. In addition, there was $600,000 in refunds deposited into accounts controlled by Pierre and an additional $1.7 million deposited indirectly into Pierre’s bank account from co-conspirators’ accounts. On June 26, 2013, Muller Pierre, 62, of North Miami Beach, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Pierre pled guilty to wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. On May 22, 2013, Finshley Fanor, 34, of Lauderhill, was sentenced to two years of probation. Fanor pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286. >>> Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI, the U.S. Secret Service, the Miami Gardens Police Department, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. VILLAGE OF COCONUT GROVE >>> Home invasion shooting has Grovites on edge While the issue of crime has been on the lips of many Coconut Grove residents over the past year, that have resulted in generally burglaries and home invasions. Over the weekend, a resident was shot during a robbery and they are at Ryder Trauma Center, hopefully recovering, but it highlights the up tick in crime in the tony community. For more on the shooting go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/26/3713000/man-shot-in-coconut-grove-home.html And last week on El Prado Blvd. there was a home invasion as well and the people were in their secure home, with alarms when they were surprised by the intruders. CITY OF MIAMI BEACH >>> Both mayoral candidates Gongora and Levine say they will keep Mgr. Morales if elected mayor on Nov.5 The Watchdog Report on Wednesday took a road trip to Miami Beach, and caught up with the two leading mayoral candidates, one in the audience of a commission committee meeting, and the other chairing the meeting. Commissioner Michael Gongora and Philip Levine are locked in a tough, close mayoral race running up to the Nov. 5 General Election. And both men were in the fourth floor conference room listening to the issues involving two schools on the Beach and the room was packed with supportive parents. Gongora ran a crisp meeting, and Levine chatted up parents before the committee meting began, since the polls for the day closed at 3:00 p.m. at the early voting site at City Hall. Both candidates have been battered by opposition attack ads, but since government still has to run after the election. I asked both of the candidates by email, if they planned to retain Miami Beach Manager Jimmy Morales if they won the race. And Gongora verbally told the Watchdog Report Thursday that “yes” he would keep Morales in place and Levine in an email wrote, “If I am honored to be elected Mayor, I have every intention of supporting our City Manager assuming that he continues to show the determination and ability to solve the many issues and challenges facing Miami Beach. Among other things, we need to fix the flooding problem, stop corruption, responsibly renovate our Convention Center and create a true sense of customer service in our Building Department. The City Manager will be expected to act and perform as a results oriented CEO who produces positive results to our Shareholder/Customers who are our residents. There will be no room or tolerance for playing “politics” in this administration,” wrote the mayoral candidate last week. >>> To review the Miami Beach Nov. 5 ballot go to http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/cityclerk/elections/scroll.aspx?id=64033 and for more on the race go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/19/3698657/in-miami-beach-a-mayoral-race.html >>> Candidates in Group II race verbally slug it out, Grieco leads in fundraising, as incumbent Exposito and Crystal trail, but race is expected to be tight And the race for the Group II seat on the seven member commission dais is heating up with challenger Michael Grieco, an attorney raising the most money for his campaign against incumbent Commissioner Jorge Exposito and fellow challenger Dave Crystal was number three in the fund raising efforts. Moreover, both Exposito and Grieco were seen on Wednesday talking to voters as they streamed into the City Hall early voting site, but the races are expected to be low voter turnout affairs. For more on that race go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/24/3709348/miami-beach-group-ii-commission.html >>> Press release: Former Mount Sinai Medical Center Temporary Employee Convicted in Identity Theft Tax Refund Scheme Involving the Theft of Patient Information Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Steven Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), and Guy P. Fallen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), announce that defendant Oliver Gayle, 43, of Miami, was convicted in an identity theft tax refund scheme involving the theft of patient information. Specifically, Oliver Gayle was found guilty of one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, that is, debit cards and social security numbers of other persons with corresponding names and dates of birth, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029 (a)(3) and 2; three counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1) and 2; and one count of possessing, using and attempting to use a U.S. visa knowing it to be forged, counterfeited altered and falsely made, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546 (a). According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on February 27, 2013, the Aventura Police Department stopped a vehicle driven by Gayle after being alerted by a U.S. bank of an individual who attempted to cash a fraudulent check. Gayle presented a Jamaican passport as his form of identification. During an inventory search of the vehicle driven by Gayle, officers uncovered a black bag containing over 100 printouts from Mt. Sinai Medical Center Account Inquiry Processor with multiple names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and addresses of patients on each printout. Additionally, photocopies of checks written to Mt. Sinai Medical Center from various individuals with a photocopy of the corresponding billing statement from Mt. Sinai were found in the bag. According to court documents and trial testimony, during a consensual search of Gayle’s residence, law enforcement found multiple printouts from Mt. Sinai Medical Center that appeared similar to the ones found in his black bag. Law enforcement also found copies of U.S. Treasury checks; a document labeled “HIT LIST” with a list of names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth; several tax returns in the names of other individuals; multiple Tax Act and Turbo Tax pre-paid debit cards issued in the names of other individuals; a Jamaican passport in Gayle’s name containing a counterfeit U.S. visa; and, an identification badge for Mt. Sinai Medical Center with Gayle’s name and photo. Sentencing is scheduled for January 9, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham. At sentencing, Gayle faces up to 10 years in prison on the access device fraud count, to be served consecutively by two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft, and a maximum of 10 years in prison on the fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents count. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI, Aventura Police Department, ICE-HSI and SSA-OIG. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elina A. Rubin-Smith and Michael J. Garofola. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. VILLAGE OF KEY BISCAYNE >>> PUBLIC WORKS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF THE RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICE AND PARKING FACILITY Press release: In preparation for demolition and construction work on the West Bridge of the Rickenbacker Causeway, the toll plaza customer service office and parking facility will close on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 until completion of the work on the West Bridge. Motorists and cyclists will no longer be able to access the toll plaza parking lot from either direction, as this area will be used for equipment staging associated with the West Bridge rehabilitation project. All toll plaza business will be conducted at the new Rickenbacker Causeway Customer Service Center which will be housed in the Causeway Maintenance Facility located on Arthur Lamb Jr. Road (also known as Sewer Beach Road). The facility sits directly across the street from the Miami Seaquarium. The Customer Service Center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except County-observed holidays. For more information on the Customer Service Center, please contact PWWM’s Causeways Division at 305-854-2468, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. >>> OTHER STORIES AROUND FLORIDA >>> County School Board vice Chair Good in the spotlight, first elected in 2010, had $172,000 net worth through 2012 Broward School Board Chair Patricia Good is in the spotlight this week and she was first elected to the nine member board in 2010, and was reelected unopposed in 2012. Good worked for some 23 years at the Miami-Dade County Public Schools before venturing into the political world. She is Cuban American, represents District 2, and the area includes the City of Pembroke Pines at the nation’s sixth largest public schools district. Her net worth through Dec. 2012 was $172,000 and she lists $35,000 in household goods. And to read her complete financial disclosure report go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/Forms/2012/36510-Form6.pdf >>> Hail to Broward Bulldog’s Fourth Anniversary, no easy achievement! The Broward Bulldog is celebrateing it’s Fourth Anniversary and the Watchdog Report gives former Miami Herald veteran reporter Dan Christensen a Tip of the Hat for not only the great investigating reporting over the years, but financially surviving as well, which is no easy trick. http://www.browardbulldog.org/ and the organization is having a major fundraising event on Nov. 12 at Vibe Restaurant. And people interested in keeping the news service out in the field can attend and donate to the not-for –profit organization. And here is just one story on how the Broward County Commission does not give easy access to past commission meetings on the web >>>http://www.browardbulldog.org/2013/10/lagging-in-south-florida-broward-county-still-has-no-on-demand-video-of-public-meetings/ And here are the event details – Raise a glass with us to celebrate Broward Bulldog’s fourth anniversary! Our fundraising celebration will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at VIBE on East Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Please join us for a complimentary drink, light bites and show your support for local non-profit watchdog journalism. All donations are tax deductible. Vibe Las Olas, 301 E Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, Tuesday, November 12, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EST) Add to my calendar https://www.eventbrite.com/event/6282092909/?ref=enivtefor001&invite=NDQxNDE5OS9raXR0c3VlQHlhaG9vLmNvbS8w&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=invitenew&utm_term=eventimage&ref=enivtefor001 >>> Press release: Gov. Scott taps Gloria Fernandez to the Broward College District Board of Trustees. Fernandez, 52, of Dania, is the senior vice president of finance and acquisitions at Ross Realty Investments. She has served as a member of the Nova Southeastern University Real Estate Advisory Board and on the board of trustees for the Chaminade-Madonna Preparatory School. Fernandez received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Miami. She fills a vacant seat and is appointed for a term beginning October 25, 2013, and ending May 31, 2017. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. >>> Residents can review they’re county commissioners financial disclosure forms on line — Residents of Broward County can now review they’re county commissioners financial disclosure forms on line and to see the inner financial workings of these elected officials go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm >>> Thank you for using the Broward County Commission Agenda E-mail Notification System. A new Broward County Commission Agenda is available. Point your browser to http://www.broward.org/commission/welcome.htm to view the new agenda. CITY OF PARKLAND >>> Three South Floridians Convicted in $2.2 Million Dollar Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, and Rafael P. Hernandez, Jr., Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department announce today that a federal jury in Miami found defendants Frantz Pierre, 33, of Parkland, and Terry Pierre, 29, and Christmanie Bissainthe, 33, of Miami, guilty of charges relating to their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $2.2 million in fraudulent refund claims to the Internal Revenue Service. Specifically, the jury convicted Frantz Pierre, Terry Pierre and Christmanie Bissainthe on 12 counts, including conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims to the government, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. According to trial evidence and testimony, 1,000 pre-paid debit cards were sent to Frantz Pierre’s business in the name of Tax Professors in May 2010. Co-conspirators subsequently caused approximately 338 fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns using stolen prisoners’ identities to be submitted to the IRS seeking $2.2 million in refunds for payment onto the Tax Professors’ debit cards. The IRS paid approximately $1.9 million in refunds in connection with these fraudulent returns to these debit cards. Evidence at trial included, among other things, video evidence of all three defendants withdrawing funds from these debit cards. According to trial evidence and testimony, law enforcement executed a search warrant at defendant Frantz Pierre’s seven-bedroom residence in Parkland, Florida in July 2012. The evidence showed that this residence had been purchased primarily with fraudulent tax refund proceeds. After law enforcement announced their presence, an individual was observed tossing laptops from the second floor of Pierre’s residence towards the pool. Law enforcement found over 70 pre-paid debit cards and a thumb drive with over 2,000 people’s names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and IRS pin numbers in Frantz Pierre’s bedside dresser. Sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke. At sentencing, Frantz Pierre faces a maximum sentence of 41 years in prison, Terry Pierre faces a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison, and Christmanie Bissainthe faces a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to IRS-CI (Miami and St. Paul), the U.S. Secret Service, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael N. Berger and Cristina Moreno. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. PALM BEACH COUNTY >>> School Board Chair Shaw in the spotlight, first elected in 2010, had $1.5 million net worth through 2012, has no debt Chuck Shaw, the Chair of the seven member Palm Beach County Public Schools is in the spotlight this week and the man has been a long time educator who worked with the school district prior to being elected to the board in 2010 and currently is up again for reelection in 2016. He represents school board District 2, the man lists a $1.5 million net worth through 2012, and he lists $25,000 in household goods and he has no debts. To read his financial disclosure report go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/Forms/2012/233541-Form6.pdf Shaw and bio : http://www.palmbeachschools.org/Community/PDFs/ChuckShawBio.pdf >>> Dist. 2 map http://www.palmbeachschools.org/Community/PDFs/PBCSD2013.pdf >>> And to read all the elected leader’s financial disclosure reports go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm WEST PALM BEACH >>> Two More Defendants Sentenced in Staged Automobile Accident Scheme ~ 92 defendants have been charged to date in Operation Sledgehammer I-VI Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, Florida Department of Financial Services, and Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Office of the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, announce that defendants Wilfredo Sauceda, 33, of West Palm Beach, and Nelson Felix Martinez Torres, 47, also of West Palm Beach, were sentenced today by United States District Judge Kenneth A. Marra for their participation in an automobile insurance fraud scheme involving staged automobile accidents. Wilfredo Sauceda was sentenced to 40 months of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $643,964.09; Nelson Felix Martinez Torres was sentenced to 70 months of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,359,208.73. Each of the defendants previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; multiple counts of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 2; one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h); and multiple counts of money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii), and 2. On September 30, 2013, Maria Testa Baceiro, a/k/a “Maria Testa,” 29, of Miami, Olinda Rodriguez, 39, of West Palm Beach, and Yeisy Chouza, 31, of Miami, were sentenced by United States District Judge Kenneth A. Marra for their participation in the same scheme. Maria Testa Baceira was sentenced to 72 months of incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,232,248.04; Olinda Rodriguez was sentenced to 50 months of incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,447,139.23; and Yeisy Chouza was sentenced to 40 months of incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $558,261.55. On October 8, 2013, Iris Roca, of Davie, was sentenced by United States District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley for her participation in the same scheme. Iris Roca was sentenced to 50 months of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,135,577.23. According to court documents, between approximately October 2006 and December 2012, the members of the conspiracy staged automobile accidents and thereafter caused the submission of false insurance claims through chiropractic clinics they controlled. To execute the scheme, Maria Testa Baceiro, one of the true owners of some of the chiropractic clinics involved in this scheme, and others, recruited individuals who had the medical or chiropractic licenses required by the State of Florida to open a clinic to act as “nominee owners” of the clinics. The defendants also recruited individuals, including defendants Yeisy Chouza, Wilfredo Sauceda, and Nelson Felix Martinez Torres, whom they referred to as “Perros” and “Perras” depending on their roles in the accidents, to participate in the staged accidents, and others to help the clinics launder the insurance proceeds. The defendants also hired complicit chiropractors and therapists, including licensed massage therapists Olinda Rodriguez and Iris Roca, who prescribed and billed for unnecessary treatments and/or for services that had not been rendered. Thereafter, complicit clinic employees prepared and submitted claims to the automobile insurance companies for payment for these unnecessary or non-rendered services. Defendants Yeisy Chouza, Wilfredo Sauceda, and Nelson Felix Martinez Torres also worked cashing checks for various chiropractic clinics. Twenty-one clinics participated in this scheme. Starting with Operation Sledgehammer I in June 2011 and including the defendants charged in Operation Sledgehammer VI, 92 defendants have been charged for their participation in this automobile insurance fraud scheme. Of those 92 defendants, 56 have been charged federally by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, resulting in court-ordered restitution of more than $5 million to the defrauded insurance companies. Thirty-six defendants have been charged by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. Mr. Ferrer commended the efforts of the FBI, IRS-CI, the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, and the Greater Palm Beach County Health Care Fraud Task Force for their outstanding work in this case. Mr. Ferrer also recognized the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) for its collaboration and assistance in this investigation. The federal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Marie Villafaña and the state cases are being prosecuted by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. >>> A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. >>> Orange County Man Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that defendant Bhardwaaj “Deo” Seecharan, 53, of Orange County, was sentenced yesterday for his participation in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme. The defendant was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez to 60 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. In addition, Bhardwaaj Seecharan was ordered to pay $2,040,343.14 in restitution to the victim banks. Bhardwaaj Seecharan previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud involving $3.5 million in diverted real estate escrow funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1344. According to statements made in court and publicly filed documents in the case, on December 9, 2010, Bhardwaaj Seecharan, his wife Gergawattie “Kamla” Seecharan, and two others were indicted on bank fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and related mortgage fraud charges. According to the charges, the Seecharans, along with their two co-defendants, conspired to solicit mainly Guyanese residents of Florida and other states to act as straw buyers on fraudulent applications for more than $50 million worth of mortgage loans in connection with the purchase of more than 150 homes in Indian River County, Miami-Dade County, and elsewhere. Approximately 80 individuals served as straw buyers of properties in Vero Lake Estates (VLE), in Indian River County, and other developments. This scheme resulted in the issuance of more than $50 million in fraudulent mortgage loans. The proceeds were then used to buy more properties, sustain the deception, service preexisting mortgage loans in the scheme, and pay kickbacks to the straw buyers. In addition, Kamla Seecharan and codefendant Linda Rovetto unlawfully diverted more than $3.5 million in mortgage loans from real estate closing escrow accounts to Raviworld New Homes, Inc., a company managed by Kamla Seecharan’s husband and codefendant Bhardwaaj Seecharan. Linda Rovetto was sentenced on August 21, 2012, by Judge Martinez to 42 months in prison for her part in the bank fraud. Kamla Seecharan was sentenced on September 25, 2012, to 121 months in prison. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, Bureau of Finance, West Palm Beach Regional Office for their work on this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov. INDIAN RIVER COUNTY >>> Vero Beach Resident Sentenced for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methylone and Firearm Charges Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hugo J. Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, announce the sentencing of Omar Edgar Outten, 30, of Vero Beach, Florida. Outten was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The three count indictment, to which Outten pleaded guilty on August 5, 2013, charged him with possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance – Methylone, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). According to the criminal complaint filed on June 25, 2013, on March 25, 2013, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) detectives executed a state search warrant at the defendant’s home. During the search, IRCSO detectives found and confiscated 132 capsules filled with methylone, multiple empty pill capsules, $1,225.00, a Bersa model Thunder 380, .380 caliber pistol loaded with eight rounds of ammunition, a 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun model 835 Ulti-Mag that had the butt stock removed from the firearm, 50 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition, and eight 12 gauge shotgun shells. In addition, IRCSO detectives seized approximately nine grams of marijuana. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger. >>> A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. >>> Gov. Scott names Michael Swindle to County Board of Commissioners Press release: Swindle, 44, of Clewiston, is an agriscience instructor at Glades Day School. He was previously the territory sales manager of Vermeer Southeast. Swindle received his associate’s degree from Santa Fe Community College and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. He fills a vacant seat created by the resignation of Al Perry and is appointed for a term beginning October 23, 2013, and ending November 18, 2014. >>> School Board Chair Dick in the spotlight, first elected in 2006, had $571,000 net worth through 2012 Monroe Public Schools Board Chair John Dick is in the spotlight this week and he was first elected to the five-member board back in 2006, was reelected in 2010, and the board member is up again in 2014. The man represents District 4, and that includes Marathon on the tony Keys. He is an investor, through Dec. 2012, he had a net worth of $571,000, and he lists $37,000 in household goods. To read his full financial disclosure form go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/Forms/2012/211290-Form6.pdf >>> And to read all the other Monroe County constitutional officers’ financial disclosure forms go to http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/results.cfm >>> TEDxMiami Thursday, October 24 @ 7pm, Knight Concert Hall — For four years, TEDxMiami has been a hub of diverse creativity, innovative ideas, and progressive thought leadership that has been a cornerstone of Miami’s creative, intellectual, and entrepreneurial audiences. The main event in the fall will feature live speakers giving unique, locally relevant talks. TED is an international nonprofit organization and its mission is to share ideas worth spreading. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. Follow #TEDxMiami2013 for event updates and keep up with TedxMiami throughout the year on Facebook and Twitter. Member Pre-Sale: NOW! Public On Sale: Tuesday, July 30 CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS Or call 305-949-6722 today! >>> Campaign supporters do no favors when they talk to candidates about a election in public buildings, it’s against the law, and could hurt your chosen one Elected leaders running for office and the other candidates that may be challenging them need to reign in their supporters when they see each other in public government buildings. For it is against the law to campaign or discuss a campaign in these public buildings. The Watchdog Report in my travels the last few weeks have seen a number of supporters approach a candidate, and tell them, or ask them about some campaign issue, that is verboten under Florida Election Law in a public building. And while it is great, supporters like their candidate and want to help. Having this discussion in such a setting is a bad idea and actually creates a problem for the candidate, and a challenger could call them out for this activity and it is not a resume builder. The other issue of concern with these municipal elections is the use of absentee ballots and if candidates think how these ballots are being requested, filled out and processed are not being scrutinized, after all the scandals in past races and the county beefing up the punishment for AB irregularities. Candidates need to be very careful during this municipal elections cycle for the activity is under a microscope, and you have a very high chance of being caught if you decide to push the envelope in this regard. And for the candidates, how they run their campaign is the first test of what they believe in and what they are about and if they want to get off to a great start in office. That can only occur if they win by the rules, run a straight-up campaign and demonstrate to their family, friends, and voters they are the real deal. Not a political fake that just wants to win office regardless of the transgressions and who will ultimately find their tenure in office is tainted from the beginning by these campaign wayward ways. And that is not a good thing for a political career. >>> Now deceased Miami Commissioner Teele warned of digital divide in the community The city of Miami, while Commissioner Teele was still with us, and at his suggestion, began the community technology advisory board to deal with just such digital divide issues. Under the wings of that board, technology centers were set up in nearly all, if not all, of the City’s parks, and then some moved out into the community to elder living centers and the like. partnerships were set up with other 501 (c) (3)’s in the community to supply computers through school programs. The centers at the parks were done so kids with no access at home could take their schoolwork to the park, log in there with their school computer id, and do their homework there. There were also contests at the schools where the kids could win their own computers. The parks sponsored video projects thru the parks as well for X-box technology and other prizes that were donated by partners. I am not sure of the status of this board, as several IT directors later, at least a couple killed off anything they didn’t understand. The computer centers should still be in the parks, though. They were also to be available to grownups and elders looking for jobs, how to connect with friends and family online. There were also mentors and teachers available for the unitiated. >>> Readers on my recovery and I thank you so much for the kind words I really hope that you’ll be feeling all better soon. I had the flu years ago, and I decided then that I would never, ever neglect to get a flu shot. I know how tough it must be. About the Hallandale Beach CRA and the Broward Inspector General, Keith London has continued to keep his hopes of a scandal alive. I wrote a letter to the state the other day which explains it all. >>> Take care, and thanks for your WD Report! >>> So nice to have you back and feeling better. Hon, Linda Zilber >>> Good to see you back! Stay well >>> LIFETIME FOUNDING MEMBERS & INITIAL SPONSORS IN 2000 ANGEL ESPINOSA – (Deceased) owner COCONUT GROVE DRY CLEANER’S HUGH CULVERHOUSE, Jr FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT www.fpl.com . THE MIAMI HERALD www.miamiherald.com (2000-2008) WILLIAM HUGGETT, Seamen Attorney (Deceased) LINDA E. RICKER (Deceased) JOHN S. and JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION www.knightfoundation.org THE HONORABLE STANLEY G. TATE >>> Watchdog Report supporters – $2,000 a year BADIA SPICES www.badiaspices.com MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.miamidade.gov UNITED WAY OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.unitedwaymiamidade.org >>> Watchdog Report supporters – $1,000 a year AKERMAN SENTERFITT www.akerman.com BERKOWITZ POLLACK BRANT Advisors and Accountants www.bpbcpa.com LINDA MURPHY: Gave a new laptop in Oct. 2001 to keep me going. WILLIAM PALMER www.shutts.com SHUBIN & BASS www.shubinbass.com WILLIAMSOM AUTOMOTIVE GROUP http://williamsonautomotivegroup.com/ >>> Public, Educational & Social institutions – subscribers at $1,000 or less CAMILLUS HOUSE, INC. www.camillushouse.org CITY OF MIAMI www.miamigov.com. CITY OF CORAL GABLES www.coralgables.com CITY OF MIAMI BEACH www.miamibeachfl.gov CHAPMAN PARTNERSHIP FOR HOMELESS www.chapmanpartnership.org THE STATE OF FLORIDA www.myflorida.gov GREATER MIAMI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE www.miamichamber.com GREATER MIAMI CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU www.miamiandbeaches.com HEALTH FOUNDATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA www.hfsf.org MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSION www.miamidade.gov MIAMI-DADE COMMISSION OFFICE OF THE CHAIR www.miamidade.gov MIAMI-DADE COUNTY ETHICS & PUBLIC TRUST COMMISSION www.miamidade.gov/ethics MIAMI-DADE COUNTY INSPECTOR GENERAL www.miamidade.gov/ig MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD www.dadeschools.net MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS www.dadeschools.net PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST & JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM www.jhsmiami.org THE BEACON COUNCIL www.beaconcouncil.com THE CHILDREN’S TRUST www.thechildrenstrust.org THE GOOD GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE http://goodgov.net/ THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY LEAGUE OF CITIES www.mdclc.org THE MIAMI FOUNDATION www.miamifoundation.org UNITED STATES OF AMERICA http://www.firstgov.gov/ UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI www.miami.edu The Watchdog Report covers a few of the meetings attended weekly. It remains my belief that an informed public will make better decisions. Therefore, I go to meetings, make the presence of an informed citizen known, and bring the information to you. The Watchdog Report is in the 13th year of publication and it has been an honor to be able to send this information to you. It is sent to readers in Miami-Dade, Florida, the U.S. and the world. The Watchdog Report is sent to thousands free and while readers have been prodded to subscribe the results have been mixed. Over 600 reports and Extra’s have been sent since May 5, 2000 and over one million words have been written on our community’s governments and events. The report is an original work based on information gathered at public meetings, interviews and from documents in the public domain. I welcome letters via e-mail, fax, or snail mail. Letters may be edited for length or clarity and must refer to material published in the Watchdog Report. Please see address and contact information. Please send any additions and corrections by e-mail, fax or snail mail. All corrections will be published in the next Watchdog Report. If you or your organization would like to publish the contents of this newsletter, please contact me. Please send your request to [email protected] Daniel A. Ricker Publisher & Editor Watchdog Report www.watchdogreport.net Copyright © of original material, 2013, Daniel A. Ricker >>> The Watchdog Report are now available to television stations web pages, and all the newspapers and other media in South Florida if the publishers have an interest to run part or all of the stories. Further, in 2000, I used to have some paper’s running the report in the Spanish press, that option is available again, and publishers should contact me. The news content will not be free, but you can pick and chose the stories of interest, edit them if necessary but you must still keep the general story intact. If you are a news outlet and would like to learn more about, the Watchdog Report and this offer contact me at [email protected] for further information. >>> Here is what past newspapers have written about the Watchdog Report publisher including a survey and regional study done by the U. North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the media in the southeast United States. >>> The Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel & Sun-Sentinel articles on the Watchdog Report publisher over the years. >>> Published on September 9, 1999, Page 1EA, Miami Herald, The (FL) CITIZEN ADVOCATE’ KEEPS TABS ON POLITICIANS >>> Published on January 3, 2000, Page 1B, Miami Herald, The (FL) MIAMI-DADE WATCHDOG WILL BE MISSED >>> >>> To read the full section large two page front page story, but without the photos and smart box graphics, go to: `I Go When You Cannot’ – Sun Sentinel 20 Jan 2003 … Sometimes Dan Ricker lives in the dark so others may live in the light. … to his weekly Watchdog Report have finally mailed their checks. … http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-01-20/news/0301190341_1_ricker-school-board-president-miami-s-first-cuban-american >>>Watchdog Report publisher named ‘Best Citizen’ 2003 by the Miami New Times —The publisher would like to thank the weekly alternative paper Miami New Times for bestowing their 2003 Best of Miami, ‘Best Citizen’ award to me and I am honored. Thank you. To read the full story go to http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2003-05-15/citylife2.html/1/index.html From the spring of 2003: U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Southeast U.S. Media Report lists Watchdog Report publisher as leading Florida commentator >>> Selected excerpts from the report on Florida’s media sources. Those who do read the newspaper in Florida have a bevy of options for state government and political coverage. The dominant newspapers in the state are Knight-Ridder’s The Miami Herald (Acquired by The McClatchy Company in 2006) and the Poynter Institute’s St. Petersburg Times. Both papers endorsed Gore in 2000 but split on the 2002 gubernatorial race, with the Herald endorsing Republican incumbent Jeb Bush and the Times backing Democratic challenger Bill McBride. Daniel Ricker of The Miami Herald also writes an influential column as well as an email newsletter called the Watchdog Report that goes out to more than 100,000 subscribers. FEBRUARY 2004 – Florida: Columnists in Abundance –ERIC GAUTSCHI, graduate student, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill – D) LEADING COMMENTATORS – Resource Commentator Organization Type Web site –Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times Column www.sptimes.com/columns/bousquet.shtml -“First Friday” WPBT TV (Miami) TV Show www.channel2.org/firstfriday/issues.html –Lucy Morgan St. Petersburg Times Column www.sptimes.com/columns/morgan.shtml –Daniel Ricker Miami Herald/Watchdog Report Newsletter >>> Readers who would like to read the complete University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Southeast United States Media Report go to view the complete report or download all the data used in this study. >>> Watchdog Report Editor’s note to the NCU/CH study: The subscriber number referenced is incorrect and applies to readership.
\|07-31-2011 01:45 PM\| were those bolt from china? \|07-25-2011 04:25 PM\| "Congress will eventually do the right thing, but first it must exhaust all other possibilities." - Ronald Reagan \|07-24-2011 11:59 PM\| Ringerone sends heads up! What a scare...glad all is okay health wise. It's been some time...what did the Fatman do for you. I have been looking for a Mustang II front end...and am now considering a Jag front clip instead....this is now the only story I have heard. \|11-26-2005 08:39 PM\| Added to Hotrodders Knowledge Base This discussion has been added to the Suspension - Brakes - Steering Discussions category of the Hotrodders Knowledge Base. --For the main page of the Hotrodders Knowledge Base, click here. --For more information on the Hotrodders Knowledge Base, click here. --For information on becoming a Hotrodders Knowledge Base Editor, click here. \|11-07-2005 06:19 PM\| OK fellows..........and you know who you are...... No bad mouthing each other or their skills or lack of...in your opinion. You both have a history with each other......and both are very opinionated..... ..I am too....on some things... I would not put a Pinto/Mustang II under anything that weighs over 3000 lbs. But that's me... Heidit's, the Chubby one and others ALL have had failures....some may have been caused by the kits and some by the installer. Some because the vehicles was too heavy...... I do agree whole heartily that only a fraction of these " kits " even make the highway or any mileage to amount to anything.... DEUCE ........the Moderator... \|11-07-2005 06:08 PM\| \|11-07-2005 05:21 PM\| You know, I worked as a mechanic at a Ford dealership during the late 70's. Every time a Pinto pulled up to the service door, the service manager would grab the fire extinguisher. I realize Ford spends a lot of money on engineering, but that doesn't make them infallible. \|11-07-2005 08:25 AM\| I've been following this post for a long time and have kept my $.02 to myself. But I would have to agree with you. I'm not an enginner nor have I installed a MII system. I think though I'm some what with it though. When you look at any LCA on any car, it attaches at 2 seperate and distint locations along the frame rail. This forms a nice, wide base that IMO, would resist deflection, ect. On most of these kit that do away with the strut, it leaves just the cross memeber to handle all of the twisting loads. The cross memeber looks to be about 3". I think when Ford designed this system, they would have done away with the strut from both a manufacturing and finacial reasons...but they didn't. Personally, the only way I'd install a MII system is if it was exactly the way Ford designed it since they have vast engineering and financial sources at their disposal and feel that it's safe for what ever their customers are going to throw at it. I've learned a long time ago not to re-engineer something that someone has already spent a lot of time and money on because it usually come back to bite you in the ***. \|10-21-2005 10:38 PM\| Simply just looking at it, it seems obvious to me that the strut rod in tension is much much stronger than any type of strut rod elimation system. Any other pluses or minuses to the strut system pales in comparison to strength. \|10-12-2005 09:43 PM\| When someone visits my site they can easily see that anyone who wants to can build a street rod from the ground up in their home garage, and they don't need expensive equipment like TIG welders to do it. A simple flux core wire welder is all that is required. One other thing, any idiot knows that flux core wire welds aren't pretty to begin and the only way to make them look good is to grind them. I'm terribly sorry that my welding isn't up to your standards, but I seriously doubt anyone's welding is as good as yours, at least in your mind anyway. When it comes to strut rods, I most humbly apologize for my opinion on the subject, I didn't realize that you know so much more than all the engineers at Ford who designed the Mustang II suspension. It must be really tough being omnipotent. (If you don't know what that word means maybe you should look it up, providing you can spell a word that has more than four letters in it.) It also seems very interesting to me that you, with apparently hundreds of years experience installing Mustang II IFS systems, seem to have problems with Heidts kits and someone like me, who has no business even breathing the same air as someone as great as you, seems to have no problems with the installation of these kits at all. Kind of makes you wonder about that, doesn't it. One last thing, if you want my job as moderator you are more than welcome to it. However, I must warn you that it comes with the burden of putting up with any number of smart a$$es who think they are better than other people. Unfortunately most people of that caliber have problems expressing themselves and can't deal with someone who has an opposing opinion. When a disagreement does arise it generally degenerates very quickly to a personal attack. This usually happens because these individuals have no weapons in their limited vocabularies to adequately respond when challenged, therefore the easiest route is to attempt to degrade the other person. But you already know all this, don't you. Being God's gift to the automotive hobbyist must be a pretty tough job. Acting as a moderator is a thankless job and we are all volunteers. It doesn't mean we know more than everyone else, we just do our best to assist Jon in keeping the site working properly and occasionally we have to weed out undesirables. So as far as I'm concerned step up to the plate, or do everyone a favor and crawl back in the hole you came out of. By the way, consider this a warning.... I know you have downloaded pictures from my site in the past and have posted them on other forums. I must warn you that everything on my web site is copyrighted and I will not hesitate to contact the forum administrators and have the pictures deleted from other sites if you do this in the future. Copyright infringement is a crime by the way. But you knew that.... you know everything. \|10-12-2005 08:51 PM\| Well, we'll see how it goes because I plan to put a Fatman's under my 50 Hudson Coupe.......hope I haven't made a bad decision, but the money's been spent! :-) \|10-12-2005 09:41 AM\| Lighten up Francis! Maybe it's a good thing you're not a "MVD", what ever that is. I did a lot of research on this board and in person with some VERY knowledgable people and they all said the same thing....use the strut rods....period. Even had one person take me out and demonstrate why. I am not an expert, that is why I consult those who are and I don't generally just ask one person. You obviously don't like Centerline's welding either. I would put a lot of money down that his welding is a heck of alot better than your spelling and grammar skills. I'm not trying to start a big fight here, but you seem to have some issues with some people that go beyond strut rods. For what it's worth. \|10-11-2005 10:28 PM\| Anyone know what he just said?? \|10-11-2005 08:46 PM\| I really dont want to do this in public but garys stuff is pretty bad. You dont cut the bottom tube for the lower aframe in 2 than drill a small hole for the lower bolt.Now tack weld a spacer were a stock stang II a-frame goes. Strut rods bind plain and simply. Centerline i have had this problem with you all along(when you started being a moderator for something that you have done twice that bothered me) i have done 50+(maybe more) stang II of all kinds some TCI stuff many clips and tons of race stuff that wins at much tougher extreams than a 100 ,000 mile streetrod.(no i dont want your job LOL) I also suggest you take a welding coarse as your work is why anything would fail. You plain and simply dont know what your talking about in this subject and that is a shame, but its your deal so goodbye. Please before you delete this show use how you welded yours into your truck......if i was MVD you would never drive that thing. Strut rods were never any good nor should they ever be under anything. 4inch of travel they bind plain and simple. I dont think you can call this flaming as you ripped me a new one for not using SPEEL CHECK and i wont use ti. LOL Take the challange post your welding on your truck!!! Later buddy \|10-11-2005 08:10 PM\| \|This thread has more than 15 replies. Click here to review the whole thread.\|
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\|Publication number\|\|US6681648 B1\| \|Application number\|\|US 09/826,484\| \|Publication date\|\|27 Jan 2004\| \|Filing date\|\|4 Apr 2001\| \|Priority date\|\|4 Apr 2001\| \|Also published as\|\|US6946019, US20040187558, WO2002081045A2, WO2002081045A3\| \|Publication number\|\|09826484, 826484, US 6681648 B1, US 6681648B1, US-B1-6681648, US6681648 B1, US6681648B1\| \|Inventors\|\|Robert C. Dye, Betty Jorgensen, David R. Pesiri\| \|Original Assignee\|\|The Regents Of The University Of California\| \|Export Citation\|\|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan\| \|Patent Citations (9), Referenced by (11), Classifications (32), Legal Events (7)\| \|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet\| This invention was made with government support under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention. The present invention relates to separation membranes, more particularly to gas separation membranes, and especially to meniscus-shaped membranes for gas separations as well as the use of such meniscus-shaped membranes for applications such as thermal gas valves, pre-concentration of a gas stream, and selective pre-screening of a gas stream. The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the use of polymer membranes as an effective, economical and flexible tool for many gas separations. The processability, gas solubility, and selectivity of several classes of polymers (such as polyimides, polysulfones, polyesters and the like) have led to their use in a number of successful gas separation applications. A drawback to the use of polymer membranes for gas separation can be their low permeability. In most instances, the success of a given membrane rests on achieving adequate fluxes. The commercial use of polymer membranes for air separation, the recovery of hydrogen from mixtures of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane, and the removal of carbon dioxide from natural gas has been reported. In each of these applications, high fluxes and excellent selectivities have relied upon glassy polymer membranes which rely on gas size differences for separation of species. Yet, this technology has focused on optimizing separation materials for near ambient conditions. The development of polymeric materials that achieve good combinations of high selectivity, high permeability, mechanical stability and processability at temperatures above about 25° C. and pressures above about 10 bar has been needed. Separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from mixed gas streams is of major industrial interest. Continued improvements in such separations are sought. Commercially viable membrane-based approaches to industrial CO2 separations require reduction in costly drops in operating temperatures and pressures while maintaining high fluxes. The need for higher flux CO2 separation approaches remains. Other research efforts have been directed to the development of polymer membranes that operate at elevated temperatures and pressures. Through the efforts of the present inventors, a polymer membrane design has now been achieved which can operate under high fluxes. Such a polymer membrane design involves a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane within one or more small pore or opening. That polymer membrane design allows for a number of varying applications described herein. It is an object of this invention to provide a polymer membrane capable of operation under high fluxes. It is another object of this invention to provide a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane within one or more small pore or opening, the meniscus-shaped polymer membrane contained substantially completely within such small pores or openings. Still another object of the present invention is a process for rapidly screening polymers for membranes in non-ambient gas separations by use of such a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane. Still another object of the present invention is the use of a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane as a selective pre-screen, e.g., for a sensor system including a sensor element where the meniscus-shaped polymer membrane can serve to screen out molecules that would contaminate the sensor element. Still another object of the present invention is the use of a meniscus-shaped polymer as a pressure/temperature sensor element. Still another object of the present invention is the use of a meniscus-shaped polymer as a pre-concentrator for a gas stream prior to entry into, e.g., a mass spectrometer. Still another object of the present invention is the use of a meniscus-shaped polymer as a temperature controlled valve in a gas separation system. To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, provides a process for simultaneously screening a multiplicity of polymer materials for comparative effectiveness in gas separation, the process including preparing an array of individual testing ports on a substrate, each individual port including a pore passing through said substrate, a gas inlet to said pore at a first location of said substrate and a gas outlet from said pore at a second location of said substrate, placing said multiplicity of polymer materials, each within a pore of at least one individual port in an amount sufficient to form a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane within said pore, passing a pre-selected gas flow to said gas inlet, analyzing gas flow from said gas outlet, and, comparing gas separation properties for said multiplicity of polymer materials. The present invention further provides a screening system for simultaneously screening polymer materials for effectiveness in gas separation including a substrate containing an array of individual ports, each port including a pore passing through said substrate, a gas inlet to said pore at a first location of said substrate and a gas outlet from said pore at a second location of said substrate, a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane situated within said pore with each meniscus-shaped polymer membrane formed of a pre-selected polymer material, and, a gas analyzer controllable attached to said outlet gas flows. The present invention further provides the improvement in a gas separation process using a solid polymer membrane as a gas separator, wherein said solid polymer membrane is selected through the above-described screening process. The present invention further provides a gas separation module including a substrate containing at least one opening therein, and, a polymer material contained within the opening of said substrate, said polymer material characterized as forming a meniscus-shaped separator within said opening. The present invention further provides a temperature gas valve including a gas separation module including a substrate containing at least one opening therein and a polymer material contained within the opening of said substrate, said polymer material characterized as forming a meniscus-shaped separator within said opening, said temperature gas valve characterized as preventing a pre-selected gas to pass through said polymer material at a first temperature, but allowing said pre-selected gas to pass through said polymer material at a second temperature. The present invention further provides an improvement in a detector including a sensing element responsive to the presence of a pre-selected species, said sensing element characterized as subject to deactivation in the presence of selected volatile organic materials, the improvement being location of a polymer membrane between said sensing element and any ambient atmosphere, said polymer membrane capable of allowing said pre-selected species to pass therethrough to said sensing element and said polymer membrane capable of preventing sufficient selected volatile organic materials to pass therethrough to said sensing element whereby said sensing element is deactivated. FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing illustrating preparation of a meniscus-shaped membrane within a small pore or opening in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a sideview of the meniscus-shaped membrane in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 3(a)-(e) show embodiments of meniscus-shaped membranes in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 4(a)-(c) show additional embodiments of meniscus-shaped membranes with alternative pore or opening structures in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 5 shows operation of a meniscus-shaped membrane for selective separation in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a graph of temperature versus helium flux for a meniscus-shaped membrane of polybenzimidazole in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a graph of temperature versus hydrogen flux and carbon dioxide flux for a meniscus-shaped membrane of polybenzimidazole in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 8 shows a graph of temperature versus carbon dioxide flux and methane flux for a meniscus-shaped membrane of polybenzimidazole in accordance with the present invention. The present invention is concerned with solid polymer membranes for gas separation. Additionally, the present invention is concerned with a system and process for determining and optimizing the operating temperature ranges of solid polymer membranes for gas separation. By the term “solid” is meant that the membranes are substantially non-porous and do not contain a liquid element as would be the case in a liquid supported membrane system. The present invention involves a gas separation membrane formed by the self-assembly of a solid polymer membrane or film into a thin meniscus that spans a small hole, pore or opening. The solid polymer membrane is formed by a process driven by capillary forces, viscosity, and surface adhesion effects. The result is a thin polymeric membrane or film that is strongly bound to the edges of a hole, pore or opening in a substrate. The seal between the solid polymer membrane and the substrate material defining the pore, hole or opening can be gas tight at pressures in excess of 100 pounds per square inch (psig). An important feature of the resulting solid polymer membrane is its non-uniform thickness throughout the span of the film. The meniscus that forms when the polymer dries in the hole is characterized by a thick structure at the point of attachment to the support material (the sides of the hole) and a minimum thickness at the center of the membrane (FIG. 1). The result is a solid polymer membrane that self-assembles into a concave “lens.” The shape of the membrane resulting from this invention leads to separation properties well suited to several applications. The desirability of high fluxes in gas separation makes thin membranes attractive. The typical problem with thin polymer films is their fragility, even in composite structures. In capitalizing on the natural formation of a structurally optimized meniscus, this process yields membranes that are both thin and strong. FIG. 2 shows the reduced thickness 22 at the center of the film acting to enhance flux while maintaining a large contact area 24 with the metal support to improve strength. The inherent strength of the concave arch structure can surpass the strength of flat sheet membrane geometry. In general, the meniscus membrane can range in thickness of from about 5 microns to about 100 microns with greater thickness at the edges of from about 7 microns to about 100 microns, tapering to as thin as from about 5 microns to about 50 microns at the center. The size of the meniscus membrane is limited only by the particular physical properties of the polymer material and the size of the hole, pore or opening. Generally, the size of any individual hole, pore or opening can be from about 0.003 inches in diameter to about 0.25 inches in diameter, preferably from about 0.03 inches in diameter to about 0.1 inches in diameter. A polymer meniscus membrane formed with a concave structure that affords a thin membrane thickness in the center will maximize permeability. In one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate containing the holes, pores or openings can be a porous metal or porous ceramic substrate. An example of a suitable substrate is a commercially available ceramic substrate element made from silicon carbide. Another preferred substrate can be formed of a porous metal medium such as sintered porous stainless steel. Such a porous metal medium is available from Pall Corporation of East Hills, N.Y. under the trade names PSS (a sintered stainless steel powder metal medium), PMM (a porous sintered metal membrane including metal particles sintered to a foraminate support), PMF (a porous sintered fiber metal medium), Rigimesh (a sintered woven wire mesh medium), Supramesh (stainless steel powder sintered to a Rigimesh support), PMF II (a porous sintered fiber metal medium), and combinations of more than one of these materials. A sintered metal medium for use in the present invention may be formed from any of a variety of metal materials including alloys of various metals such as nickel, chromium, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, zinc, tin, gold, silver, platinum, aluminum, cobalt, iron, and magnesium, as well as combinations of metals and metal alloys, including boron-containing alloys. Brass, bronze, and nickel/chromium alloys, such as stainless steels, the Hastelloys, the Monels and the Inconels, as well as a 50 weight percent nickel/50 weight percent chromium alloy, may also be used. Examples of other suitable high temperature substrates include those formed of glass fibers. In the present invention, the solid polymer material is characterized as being substantially within the pores, holes or openings of the substrate. That is, the solid polymer material forming the meniscus-shaped membrane does not extend outside of the pores, holes or openings of the substrates to the outer surfaces of the substrate. This allows minimization of polymer material needed. In some instances, it may be desirable to apply a release material such as a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to selected surfaces of the substrate to prevent the polymer material from adhering at those locations. In some instances, a bonding agent such as a suitable silane material (e.g., a silane coupling agent, such as, an alkyl siloxane or phenyl triethoxysilane) can be used to promote greater adhesion of the polymer material at certain locations. In a process of preparation of such a meniscus membrane, a selected amount of polymer material can be placed into the pore, opening or hole in the substrate and the combination heated above the melting point of the polymer to allow it to form the meniscus-shaped membrane. Optionally, the selected amount of polymer material in conjunction with a suitable solvent for such material can be placed into the pore, opening or hole and the solvent evaporated from the system such that the polymer forms the meniscus-shaped membrane. In another embodiment, a substrate containing the openings, holes or pores can be dipped into an amount of the polymer material where the polymer material can penetrate the openings, holes or pores. Thereafter, the surfaces of the substrate can be wiped to remove excess polymer material. Selected regions can be pre-treated with a release material and/or bonding agent as well. The simplicity of this meniscus membrane design is desirable as well. One sizeable hurdle to adopting polymer membranes in commercial devices is the difficulty in producing robust, inexpensive modules. The approach of the present invention can allow sealing and fixturing using a metal surface (the supporting disk) eliminating the need to seal the polymer in the membrane module. From a research standpoint this meniscus membrane design has several advantages. The ability to screen polymers rapidly by making a gas tight seal can expedite membrane testing. The versatility of the meniscus membrane structure is also an advantage. Control over the size and shape of the hole, pore or opening, the quantity of polymer loaded, and the chemical composition of the polymer can be useful in optimizing gas separation performance for particular applications. The ability to optimize the polymer performance and adjust the hole shape for increased strength is shown below. From FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 3(b) is shown an increase in polymer loading such that the mensicus-shaped membrane has a greater thickness. From FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 3(c) is shown a reduced hole size. The polymer chemistry of the mensicus-shaped membrane is shown represented by the darker membrane of FIG. 3(d). An increase in gas flux rate can be obtained with the multiple pore/openings of the substrate in FIG. 3(e). By changing the shape of the hole or opening, particularly when such a hole or opening is within a supporting substrate (e.g., a metal or ceramic disk), the strength of the surface bonding between the meniscus shaped membrane and the surface of the substrate may be altered. Examples of such altered shapes of holes/openings are those shown in FIGS. 4(a)-(c) where FIG. 4(a) shows a typical shaped opening while FIG. 4(b) shows tapered openings 42 and 44, and FIG. 4(c) shows other tapered openings 46 and 48. Other modifications to the shapes of the holes or openings will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. FIG. 9 shows a substrate 90 including an array of individual ports 92 each port including a mensicus shaped polymer membrane 94 within the port. Further, each port is shown including a gas analyzer 96 controllably attached to each port and a heating means, e.g., a heater 98, attached to each port. In the present invention, the meniscus membranes are operated at high temperature ranges generally in excess of about 100° C., and often more preferably at high temperature ranges generally in excess of about 200° C. By use of such temperature ranges, the meniscus membranes can have different selectivity than found at more traditional ambient range temperatures. Applications for small, selective membranes that can be easily integrated into commercial devices are numerous. For example, in the growing field of sensors and control switches it is often crucial to avoid the contamination of the sensor itself with non-innocent matrix constituents (FIG. 5). For example, carbon monoxide sensors are available with excellent selectivity for CO but their susceptibility to contamination by volatile organic compounds often limits their commercial use. A pre-filter (polymer membrane) that permeates CO selectively and at high flux provides a significant improvement to sensor designs. Such a pre-filter can be applied in any detector having a sensing element responsive to the presence of a pre-selected species, where the sensing element is characterized as subject to deactivation or a reduction in activity in the presence of selected volatile organic materials. By location of such a polymer membrane between such a sensing element and any ambient atmosphere (the polymer membrane capable of allowing the pre-selected species to pass through to the sensing element while the polymer-membrane prevents sufficient selected volatile organic materials to pass through to the sensing element), the sensing element can be protected from deactivation or a reduction in activity. Several properties of solid polymer membranes for gas separation also appear to have important potential for commercial application when in the meniscus form. The solubility selectivity of gases in polymer membranes can be changed by varying the backbone structure as well as the type and distribution of functional groups. Selectivity for certain gases can also be achieved by controlling the interchain spacing (i.e., free volume) in the matrix. Temperature can also be used to affect the separation performance of polymer membranes. As the temperature increases, thermal motion causes increased permeability of gases through the polymer. This behavior is shown in the graphs of FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. Different gases (FIGS. 7 and 8) can have different flux rates at different temperatures yielding the opportunity for separation from one another. Pressures of up to 100 psig have been withstood by the meniscus membranes of the present invention without failure, marking a significant improvement over the operating pressure of many freestanding polymer films. Advances in stability may be made with control of the hole geometry as well as the introduction of covalent interactions between the polymer and the metal support (silane coupling). The gas separation performance of the meniscus-shaped membrane is highly dependent on the polymer structure. Preliminary data using PBI membranes in this configuration have shown that the performance is quite good and can be adjusted with temperature (FIG. 6). Of particular interest are the following features of the meniscus membrane. The tunability of the gas separation performance is quite important for any application in which selectivity for a particular gas is desirable. The tradeoff between gas diffusivity and solubility in the polymer with the thickness of the membrane often makes optimization difficult in thin film membranes. Control over hole size as well as polymer loading (i.e., membrane thickness) and polymer structure (backbone structure, extent of crosslinking, functionalization with gas solubility functionality, and the formation if interpenetrating polymrer networks) can give a valuable element of control in forming selective membranes for low flux applications (sensors). The ability to form gas tight polymer films with high reproducibility that can be readily tested is seen as an important contribution to membrane gas separation technology. This invention allows the rapid screening of membranes consisting of different polymers in a variety of thicknesses. The solid polymer membranes of the present invention can generally be formed of any solid polymer material capable of forming a meniscus-shaped membrane within a pore or opening of a substrate. Generally, glassy polymers are preferred. High gas separation factor materials are frequently glassy polymers. Representative examples of such polymers include polyesters, polyestercarbonates, sulfonated polysulfones and sulfonated pore(phenylene oxides), cellulosic derivative polymers, such as cellulose acetate or blends of cellulose acetate with poly(methyl methacrylate) to name a few. Also, the solid polymer material should be stable, both chemically and physically at high temperatures of above about 150° C. The permeability of a gas or vapor through a membrane is a product of the diffusion coefficient, D, and the Henry's law sorption coefficient, k. D is a measure of the permeate's mobility in the polymer; k is a measure of the permeate's sorption into the polymer. The diffusion coefficient tends to decrease as the molecular size of the permeate increases, because large molecules interact with more segments of the polymer chains and are thus less mobile. The sorption coefficient depends, amongst other factors, on the condensability of the gas. Depending on the nature of the polymer, either the diffusion or the sorption component of the permeability may dominate. In rigid, glassy polymer materials, the diffusion coefficient tends to be the controlling factor and the ability of molecules to permeate is very size dependent. As a result, glassy membranes tend to permeate small, low-boiling molecules, such as hydrogen and methane, faster than larger, more condensable molecules, such as C2+ organic molecules. For rubbery or elastomeric polymers, the difference in size is much less critical, because the polymer chains can be flexed, and sorption effects generally dominate the permeability. Elastomeric materials, therefore, tend to permeate large, condensable molecules faster than small, low-boiling molecules. Among the suitable solid polymer materials are included cellulose acetates, polyimides, polystyrenes, poly(alkyl methacrylate)s and copolymers of poly (alkyl methacrylate)s and other acrylates or blends thereof where alkyl can be methyl, ethyl and the like, poly(vinyl chloride)s, polysulfones, and polybenzimidazoles. Preferably, the solid polymer material is a polybenzimidazole that is thermally stable up to temperatures of at least about 450° C. The solid polymer membranes of the present invention can also include semi-interpenetrating polymer networks such as blends of Thermid FA-700 thermosetting polyimide (commercially available from the National Starch and Chemical Corporation) and a thermoplastic polyimide heat treated at 250° C. to alter the polymer rigidity and inhibit interchain mobility so as to enhance control of diffusion pathways. In one embodiment, the solid polymer membranes of the present invention may also surface functionalization, e.g., with CO2-philic groups (such as amines, sulfolenes, sullfolanes and carboxylates) so as to enhance selectivity of the solid polymer membranes for carbon dioxide. The meniscus membranes of the present invention may be used as a thermal gas switch in a temperature valve approach. That is, a meniscus membrane may be positioned at a place within a system at which a particular gas is retained behind the meniscus membrane until the meniscus membrane reaches a selected temperature whereat the membrane allows the particular gas to pass through at some measurable flux. Thus, a thermal gas switch or temperature valve is provided. Thus, at a first selected temperature the pre-selected gas can be retained while at a second selected temperature the pre-selected gas can pass. The first and second pre-selected temperatures are generally about 25° C. apart, preferably about 10° C. apart, more preferably as little as about 1° C. apart. As a pre-concentration approach, the meniscus membranes of the present invention may be used for a mass spectrometry interface such that a semi-selective membrane may be used as the initial aperture of the machine. The meniscus membrane design of the present invention would be valuable in fixtures ranging from thermal gas switches and flow controllers to gas purifiers in confined settings (such as, e.g., hydrogen gettering). The present invention is more particularly described in the following example, which is intended as illustrative only, since numerous modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. A polybenzimidazole (PBI) meniscus-shaped membrane formed in an opening of size (0.005 inch) was exposed to a helium feed stream. At room temperature the permeance was negligible, but as the temperature was raised the flux increased significantly as shown in FIG. 6. Given the correct combination of selectivity and flux, selective separation of particular gas components may be achieved. The formation of a leak tight (helium) seal between the metal edge and the polymer membrane. The holes range in size form 0.03 to 0.1 inches in diameter (drilled through a ¾ inch stainless steel disk, 0.0275 inch in thickness). Additional data from polybenzimidazole (PBI) meniscus-shaped membrane formed in various openings is shown in Table 1. Gas Separation Data fron PBI Meniscus Membranes Single Gas Perform- (cm2 s cmHg) × The process of the present invention should help overcome major economic and environmental challenges to gas separations. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific details, it is not intended that such details should be regarded as limitations upon the scope of the invention, except as and to the extent that they are included in the accompanying claims. \|Cited Patent\|\|Filing date\|\|Publication date\|\|Applicant\|\|Title\| \|US3350844 \|\|21 Sep 1964\|\|7 Nov 1967\|\|Gen Electric\|\|Process for the separation or enrichment of gases\| \|US3781979 \|\|8 Nov 1971\|\|1 Jan 1974\|\|Philips Corp\|\|Image intensifiers and the like\| \|US3993462 \|\|14 Jun 1974\|\|23 Nov 1976\|\|Imperical Chemical Industries Ltd.\|\|Polymer-gas separator\| \|US5064446 \|\|26 May 1988\|\|12 Nov 1991\|\|Ube Industries, Ltd.\|\|Method of preparing high purity light gas by multiple-step gas separation\| \|US6175409 \|\|2 Apr 1999\|\|16 Jan 2001\|\|Symyx Technologies, Inc.\|\|Flow-injection analysis and variable-flow light-scattering methods and apparatus for characterizing polymers\| \|US6210464 \|\|5 May 1999\|\|3 Apr 2001\|\|Ube Industries, Ltd.\|\|Mixed gas-separating membrane module and process\| \|US6355420 \|\|13 Aug 1998\|\|12 Mar 2002\|\|Us Genomics\|\|Methods and products for analyzing polymers\| \|JP2001029761A \|\|Title not available\| \|JPS63116726A \|\|Title not available\| \|Citing Patent\|\|Filing date\|\|Publication date\|\|Applicant\|\|Title\| \|US6946015 \|\|26 Jun 2003\|\|20 Sep 2005\|\|The Regents Of The University Of California\|\|Cross-linked polybenzimidazole membrane for gas separation\| \|US6997971 \|\|28 Jul 2004\|\|14 Feb 2006\|\|The Regents Of The University Of California\|\|Cross-linked polybenzimidazole membrane for gas separation\| \|US7811359\|\|12 Oct 2010\|\|General Electric Company\|\|Composite membrane for separation of carbon dioxide\| \|US7837763 \|\|12 Mar 2007\|\|23 Nov 2010\|\|Gordon Calundann\|\|High-molecular-weight polyazoles used as proton conducting membranes\| \|US8541517\|\|10 Mar 2011\|\|24 Sep 2013\|\|Battelle Energy Alliance, Llc\|\|Polymer compositions, polymer films and methods and precursors for forming same\| \|US9080052\|\|30 Aug 2013\|\|14 Jul 2015\|\|Battelle Energy Alliance, Llc\|\|Precursor polymer compositions comprising polybenzimidazole\| \|US20040261616 \|\|26 Jun 2003\|\|30 Dec 2004\|\|Jorgensen Betty S.\|\|Cross-linked polybenzimidazole membrane for gas separation\| \|US20060021502 \|\|28 Jul 2004\|\|2 Feb 2006\|\|Young Jennifer S\|\|Cross-linked polybenzimidazole membrane for gas separation\| \|US20070151926 \|\|12 Mar 2007\|\|5 Jul 2007\|\|Gordon Calundann\|\|High-molecular-weight polyazoles used as proton conducting membranes\| \|US20080072553 \|\|25 Sep 2006\|\|27 Mar 2008\|\|Alan Smithies\|\|Method and apparatus for assembling a filter cartridge\| \|US20080173179 *\|\|18 Jan 2007\|\|24 Jul 2008\|\|Kunj Tandon\|\|Composite membrane for separation of carbon dioxide\| \|U.S. Classification\|\|73/866, 96/417, 95/25, 55/344, 95/43, 96/7, 55/342.1, 73/38, 55/342\| \|International Classification\|\|B01D69/10, B01D65/10, B01D53/22, B01D71/62, B01D69/00, G01N1/34, B01D69/02\| \|Cooperative Classification\|\|B01D69/02, Y10T137/1963, G01N1/34, B01D69/00, B01D71/62, G01N2001/4016, B01D69/10, B01D65/10, B01D53/228\| \|European Classification\|\|G01N1/34, B01D69/00, B01D69/02, B01D53/22M, B01D69/10, B01D65/10, B01D71/62\| \|23 Jul 2001\|\|AS\|\|Assignment\| Owner name: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, THE, MINN Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:DYE, ROBERT C.;JORGENSEN, BETTY;PESIRI, DAVID R.;REEL/FRAME:012041/0419;SIGNING DATES FROM 20010325 TO 20010716 \|7 Nov 2002\|\|AS\|\|Assignment\| Owner name: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Free format text: CONFIRMATORY LICENSE;ASSIGNOR:UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA;REEL/FRAME:013468/0980 Effective date: 20010620 \|18 May 2006\|\|AS\|\|Assignment\| Owner name: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC, NEW MEXICO Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, THE;REEL/FRAME:017910/0143 Effective date: 20060424 \|26 Jun 2007\|\|FPAY\|\|Fee payment\| Year of fee payment: 4 \|5 Sep 2011\|\|REMI\|\|Maintenance fee reminder mailed\| \|27 Jan 2012\|\|LAPS\|\|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees\| \|20 Mar 2012\|\|FP\|\|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee\| Effective date: 20120127
Sometimes, it can feel impossible to stay awake during school. This could be because you're bored in class, or because you're exhausted because you pulled an all-nighter to study for a big test. Not only is this a problem because you won't be learning if you're falling asleep, but also because you could jeopardize your grade by seriously ticking off your teachers. If you'd like to know how to stay awake and alert during school, follow these easy tips. Stay Awake in the Classroom 1Interact with your teacher. Though interacting with your teacher may sound like the last thing you want to do when your eyelids feel like sandbags, keeping up a rapport with your teacher before and during class will surely help you stay alert. Not only will this make you less likely to drift off, but your teacher will be impressed by your participation. - Greet your teacher when you walk in the door. Establish a level of communication before class even starts. This will also keep you from immediately slouching in your seat as soon as you walk in the door. - Sit near the front, near your teacher. Though this may sound like a bad idea, you'll be more motivated to stay awake and participate in class discussion if you're closer to your teacher. Your teacher's voice will also reach you more easily. - Answer questions during class discussion. Make a habit of raising your hand to answer questions during class discussion. Tell yourself you have to answer at least three or four questions per class. This will force you to pay attention to the class discussion so you can chime in. - If you're confused about something, don't be afraid to ask a question. If you have the kind of teacher who is open to questions, pose a question or two when you're unclear about a certain concept. This will make you engage further in the class discussion. 2Interact with your classmates — when the time is right. Your classmates can also help you stay awake during school. While you shouldn't be chatting with your peers when your teacher is talking, there will be opportunities to use your classmates to help you stay alert. Here's what you can do: - Talk to a classmate before class starts. Instead of slouching in your chair and slipping into half-slumber, talk to one of your classmates about the homework, or even his plans for the week. - Take advantage of group work. If you're working in groups or partners, be an active participant to stay alert. - Sit near the students who participate. Though you don't want to sit by a chatty student who can distract you, if you sit near someone who participates a lot, his voice will jolt you awake frequently. This will also keep you from sleeping because you'll know that your teacher will be looking in your direction often. 3Take knockout notes. In most classes, you'll be spending a lot of your time taking notes. While this can sound like a plan for falling asleep even sooner than you intended, if you make the most of your note-taking, you will be much more likely to stay alert. Here's how to take notes that help you stay awake: - Take very detailed notes. The more detailed your notes, the more carefully you'll have to focus during class. If you're falling asleep, listening will be impossible. - Read over your notes from time to time. Using the "reading" part of your brain instead of the "listening" part will help you switch gears if the classroom is starting to feel too monotonous. - Use different colored pens and highlighters. Use different pens to write about different parts of the class lecture, or just switch pens because you feel like it. Take out your highlighters and use them from time to time to keep awake. - If it keeps you awake, doodle in the margins of your pages. Just try not to tick off your teacher. 4Keep your body alert during class. Keeping your mind alert is only half the battle. To truly stay awake, you have to make sure your body is awake too. Though you won't be able to run around in circles or do jumping jacks in the middle of your Spanish class, there are a few small things you can do to keep your body alert. - Sit up tall in your chair. If you don't slouch, you'll be less likely to collapse into sleep. - Roll your shoulders. - Roll your head in a circle to get the kinks out of your neck. - Stretch your wrists. - If you're really struggling to stay awake, pull down on your earlobes or even pinch your thighs or forearms. In a desperate moment, you can even lightly bite down on your tongue. - Suck on a cough drop or a peppermint, if your teacher doesn't mind. Though gum is probably not allowed in your school, chewing it will snap you awake. - Cross your legs and bounce the crossed leg. - If your body is still asleep, excuse yourself and walk across the hall for a drink of water or take a quick trip to the bathroom and splash cold water on your face. - Stay hydrated. If your teacher allows it, sip from a cold bottle of water and your body will feel more alert. Stay Awake Outside the Classroom 1Eat healthy snacks. Keeping some snacks to chew on throughout the day in your purse or your locker can keep you from crashing and will give you small boosts of energy at the right time. Sometimes you can go over six hours between breakfast and lunch, and grazing on snacks throughout the day will keep you from falling asleep because your body is drained of energy. Here are some snacks to keep around: - Nuts, such as cashews, walnuts, or almonds. - Fruit, such as apples, bananas, or grapes. - Veggies, such as carrot sticks or celery. You can carry a little bit of peanut butter in a container to dip the fruit in. - A granola bar. - Unless your school has a super-healthy vending machine, avoid taking a trip there. Most vending machines are stocked with foods that are too sugary or salty to have a positive effect on your energy level. 2Eat a healthy lunch in the cafeteria. Take advantage of your lunch break and give yourself the fuel you need to make it through the rest of your day. You should eat a healthy and balanced lunch. Your snacks should keep you from getting so hungry that you overeat and then immediately feel tired again. Here's what you should do: - Pack your lunch, if you have time. This will ensure that you can eat something healthy, and it will also give you time to digest your food instead of spending half your lunch period waiting in the cafeteria line. - Avoid greasy, sugary, or high-fat foods. - Have a healthy salad with fruit and nuts, or a sandwich with whole wheat bread. Have a yogurt or banana on the side. - If you need more caffeine, have some black tea. - When you're at lunch, try to interact with your friends as much as possible so that your mind is engaged. Take the time to laugh and be silly and to help your mind relax. 3Find time to be physically active during breaks. Though you may not have a lot of time in between your classes, you can make the most of the time you do have by moving around as much as you can in between classes. Being physically active is a way of telling your body that you're not ready to go to sleep yet. Here's what you can do: - If you get to school early, take a lap or two around the hallways to get your blood flowing and your heart rate up. Or you can even walk a lap around your school to get some fresh air. - If you have time left over when you move between classes, take the long way or walk up and down the hallway. - Take the stairs whenever you can. - If you get to the cafeteria early, take a walk around the room — just don't annoy your teachers in the process. - If you're in gym class, don't complain about it. Instead, make the most of whatever sport you're playing that week. Not only will this boost your grade, but it will boost your energy level as well. 4Be alert during passing time. When you're passing in between classes, you should focus on getting some extra physical exercise, but there are a few other things you can do to make the most of your time away from the classroom. Here are a few of them: - Strike up a conversation with a friend. The more excited you are by the conversation, the more alert your mind will be. - Take a quick trip to the bathroom. Splash cold water on your face. - Get to your classroom early and get some fresh air from an open window. - Open your locker. Even if you only need one book, opening your locker will keep your hands busy and your mind alert. Prepare for a Good Day of School 1Eat a healthy breakfast. Don't underestimate the power of a healthy breakfast. A healthy breakfast will improve the entire course of your day and will give you more energy to handle your classes and anything school will bring your way. Eating a healthy breakfast won't take long and it will make you much more likely to stay alert. Here's what you should eat: - Eat foods that are high in protein, like eggs, ham, or turkey. - Eat fruits and vegetables. You can also drink them in a healthy vegetable smoothie. - Eat food with carbohydrates, like oatmeal, granola, or toast. - Eat yogurt. Avoid too much milk because it can make you sleepy. - If you're really tired, try some caffeine. If you're still in school, it's likely that you're not used to caffeine, so try it in low doses. Black tea is best, and a small cup of coffee will help you as well. Avoid soda or energy drinks unless you're extremely desperate for a quick pick-me-up, because they will make you crash after a brief spike in your energy level. 2Have a positive morning routine. Having a great morning routine to follow every day will help you be in the right mental and physical state to begin a long day of school. Being able to get up in the morning without problems will put you on the right footing to begin your school day. - Get enough rest the day before. Most teenagers need between 8-10 hours of sleep. Studies have shown that 6 hours or less is not good for your overall wellbeing, even if you think it is. If you oversleep or don't get enough sleep, you're setting yourself up to be tired for the rest of the day. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every night. - Wake up at least an hour before school. This may sound like a pain because school already starts so early, but being more alert when you enter school will help you stay alert. If you roll out of bed and head straight to the school bus, you will still be half asleep when your day begins. - Take a cold, refreshing shower. Turn the lights on bright and sing to yourself. This will help your body wake up. - Stimulate your mind. Read the morning paper or even surf the Internet for an interesting article or two. This will help get your mind moving. - Listen to your favorite pump-up song. 3Prepare your mind for a great day of school. Feeling mentally prepared for a day of school will go a long way in helping you be mentally alert for the eight or more hours that you will spend in school. You should do whatever you can to make sure that you're going to school feeling prepared, positive, and ready for the challenges ahead. - Be prepared for school. Do all of your homework the evening before so you don't end up staying too late doing your homework, or rush to get it done in the morning and then end up crashing from working too fast. - Have a game plan. As you're waking up, think of the classes ahead of you and the tests, lessons, or events in store. Knowing what your day will look like will help you stay alert for it. - Feel positive about going to school. This can sound difficult, but you should give yourself at least three reasons why you're looking forward to going to school, such as going to your amazing English class, or even catching up with a friend during lunch. - Try not to feel desperate to get out of class, because time will feel like it is going by slower. - Take any chance you get to get up in class. Volunteer to stand up for activities, or get up to sharpen your pencil if you need to. - Eat a good and healthy breakfast. - Try to exercise in the morning.This will give you a rush and could make you feel less sluggish. Ride, walk, or even skate to school. There are easy ways to get morning exercise. - If you're allowed to chew gum in class, try chewing some strong peppermint-flavored gum. It'll help wake you up if you're lagging. But ask the teacher first! - When you feel the need to yawn, take deep breath and jiggle yourself. - If it's cold outside, ask the teacher if you can open the window. The cold air will keep you awake. - Think of one good reason to stay awake. Try to find one thing in the class that you are genuinely interested in learning about. - If you have free time, do an activity that involves exercise. - Keep yourself busy. some things you can do are; Listen to music. make the music upbeat and happy. Do some work; It can be boring, but getting your mind occupied helps a lot. Send notes to your friends; but don't get caught! Its fun, and it keeps you awake. - Look at the four corners of the wall then start from upper right to upper left to the lower right then the lower left then then the upper right and continue in this way . In this way you are moving your eyes in a "8" shape which will keep you alerted. - If it gets a little cold in school don't wear a thick jacket wear a thin one so it will make you more awake. - If you are allowed to bring a snack in class, eat it. It might help you stay awake. - Eating lots of sugar or drinking soda before school may seem like it'll keep you awake, but the alertness only lasts for about an hour and will cause you to have a sugar crash. - Drinking coffee or soda may keep you up and awake for about ten minutes of class and then have you get lazy for the rest of the period. Be sure you know how you will react to caffeine before you try it in class. - Sleeping in class can get you in serious trouble and ruin your chances of passing and graduating. Categories: Class Distractions In other languages: Français: rester éveillé en classe, Italiano: Restare Svegli in Classe, Español: mantenerse despierto en la escuela, Deutsch: In der Schule wach bleiben, Português: Ficar Acordado na Escola, Русский: не заснуть в школе, 中文: 在学校保持清醒, Bahasa Indonesia: Tetap Terbangun di Sekolah, Nederlands: Wakker blijven tijdens de les, Čeština: Jak ve škole vydržet vzhůru Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 741,447 times.
Who Served Here? In 1633, the Reverend Rowland Jones immigrated from England to the colony of Virginia. He had graduated from Oxford University and in Williamsburg served as minister of Bruton Parish for fourteen years. Two generations later, his great-granddaughter, Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731 on a plantation near Williamsburg. She grew up in the Dandridge home, Chestnut Grove. She enjoyed riding horses, gardening, sewing, playing the spinet and dancing. Her father saw that she received a fair education in basic mathematics, reading and writing...something girls primarily did not receive at the time. At the age of eighteen, Martha was married to Daniel Parke Custis. He was wealthy, handsome and twenty years older than her. Martha set up housekeeping on the Custis plantation, while her husband managed the estate which encompassed over 17,000 acres. Her husband adored his young, pretty bride and pampered her with the finest clothes and gifts imported from England. They had four children, two died in infancy. John Parke, called "Jacky" and Martha, called "Patsy" were their two surviving children. In 1757, when Martha was twenty-six, Daniel Parke Custis died after a brief illness. Jacky was three and Patsy was less than a year old. Passing on without a will, Martha was left with the duties of running the household, the estate and raising her children. (Fatherless children were usually "raised" under the auspices of a guardian, even if the mother survived — which meant that another male, primarily a relative, took care of the estates of the children). Her early education proved quite helpful in the task. Her husbands former business manager stayed on to help with the operation of the plantation and she consulted with lawyers when she felt it was necessary. Sometime later, Martha met a young colonel (several months younger than her) in the Virginia Militia at a cotillion in Williamsburg. This young colonel fought for the British in the French and Indian War. His desire was to become a commissioned officer in the Royal Army, but the British never considered it. His name was George Washington. Martha fell in love and George found her quite attractive. (That she had a good disposition and inherited wealth were an added bonus to the relationship). He had had a crush on a pretty neighbor, Sally Fairfax, but when she married another, he knew he must find a suitable wife for himself. Martha married George on January 6, 1759. The marriage changed George from an ordinary planter to a substantially wealthy landowner. He had resigned his commission in the militia and so, George, Martha, Jacky (4), and Patsy (2) moved into the enlarged and remodeled Mt. Vernon. Martha was careful and conscientious in running her home, although she and her husband did not pinch pennies when it came to caring for their home. Her children were denied nothing. She pampered and lavished attention and expensive gifts on them. They lived well at first, but subsequent bad crop returns over a number of years began to take their toll on their finances. They continued their style of living, however, and the constant stream of visitors to entertain did not help their sagging bank account. When the children were eight and six years of age, a Mr. Walter Magowen was hired as their tutor. At the age of twelve, Patsy had an epileptic seizure and as her condition worsened, she could no longer study. Mr. Magowen left for England soon after Patsy became ill and Jacky was sent to Boucher School in Caroline County (Boucher was moved to Annapolis in 1770). He was an indifferent student, interested more in having fun than being studious. A proposed trip for Jacky was refused by his stepfather because he felt Jacky was too immature, and their finances couldn't handle the expense. He was sent to King's College in New York instead. While there, he met Eleanor "Nelly" Calvert and they got engaged. Soon after he had left for New York, Patsy died at the age of 17. Martha was devastated, but told Jacky to remain in school. By December, Jacky wanted to return to Mt. Vernon, and on the way, on February 3, 1774, Jacky and Nelly were wed at Nelly's home Mt. Airy in Maryland, before heading further south. Around the same time, the political unrest in the colonies was becoming more vocal. The colonists were being burdened with an inordinant amount of taxes and levies. Some of the friends and acquaintances of Martha and George, people who were visitors to their home, were soon to become the Founding Fathers. Martha herself was considerably torn. Her friends and family were split on both sides. Her son's in-laws were loyalists as well as some of their neighbors. George, however, felt it was his duty to assume some role of leadership at the urging of some of his fellow patriots. He began by working on recruiting and training an armed force. Militia were organized by state. Realizing he would have to be away from home, he asked Jacky and Nelly to stay at Mt. Vernon with Martha, which they did. George Washington soon became the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and he took charge of his army at Cambridge, Massachusetts in the winter of 1775. Martha, Jacky, Nelly, and some friends traveled two weeks to be with him there for Christmas. Martha stayed with him until June of 1776, but the others returned home soon after Christmas. She wouldn't see him again until March of 1777, where the army was encamped at Morristown for the winter. The General was feeling ill and his wife was there to nurse him. He sent her home when the fighting got closer. At Mt. Vernon, Martha gathered her family to get the smallpox inoculation...an iffy project because you could contract the disease and die anyway. Martha would not rejoin her husband until February of 1778, where she joined him at Valley Forge. There she entertained some of the officers and the other wives who shared winter quarters there. Jacky was becoming restless at home, and volunteered to become an aide to his stepfather. He was enlisted only a few days when he died on November 5, 1781 of "camp fever." Jacky was the last of Martha's children and she was quite distraught. George told her to stay at Mt. Vernon instead of being with him that winter. By this time, Jacky and Nelly had six children: Eliza Parke Custis, Martha Parke Custis, Eleanor Parke Custis, a set of twins who died and George Washington Parke Custis. Nelly was in poor health after the birth of her own Nelly and as a result, the young baby was sent to Mt. Vernon to be nursed. With the birth and death of the twins and the subsequent birth of George Washington Parke Custis, he joined his sister at Mt. Vernon. The war ended on November 25, 1783, when the British left their last stronghold. Washington said farewell to his troops at Fraunces Tavern in New York, shopped for gifts for his grandchildren in Philadelphia and resigned his commission in Annapolis (temporary home of Congress). On Christmas Eve, he rode into Mt. Vernon. Martha's daughter-in-law soon remarried a widower, Dr. Stuart, who had set up practice in Alexandria. Young Nelly and Wash would imminently be leaving Mt. Vernon to live with their mother. Due to some confusion in guardianship and Martha's own distress at losing her grandchildren, the children ended up staying at Mt. Vernon. Martha resumed her housekeeping career, as well as entertaining and caring for her grandchildren. Guests were constantly streaming in and out of their home. She became ill in 1785, the same year her mother and brother died. George hired several tutors until Tobias Lear was hired as tutor for the children and as secretary to George Washington, which lessened some of Martha's duties. The Constitutional Convention was convening and George traveled to take part. He was named president of the convention and before ratification of the new Constitution, he was being urged to accept the role of the President of the United States. He returned to Mt. Vernon. Both he and Martha realized that he would be President by the beginning of 1789. In April, he was elected unanimously by the Electoral College. George and Martha had to apply for a loan to pay for the move to New York — the temporary capital. George arrived first and his inaugural ball was held before Martha could be with him. Martha and her grandchildren were hailed with fanfare all the way to New York. It was all a bit overwhelming for her. Her duties included not only the operation of her own house, but planning and arranging formal dinners, parties and receptions. They fell into a pattern of routine with the President holding open receptions to any clean respectable males on Tuesday afternoons. Martha had her own receptions on Fridays open to both men and women. Sundays were family days, first going to church at St. Paul's and various outings with the grandchildren in the afternoons. The first year they moved twice. Once to a larger home in New York on Broadway and the second time, in November, to Philadelphia, to await the completion of the new capital on the Potomac River. Martha loved Philadelphia, as did her grandchildren. She had a number of old friends and acquaintances there with whom she could attend parties and the theater with. Nelly and Wash were raised much like Patsy and Jacky had been, and were similar in temperament to their father and aunt. Wash, in fact, hated school as much as his father had. Nelly was very pretty, popular and was very close to her grandmother and step-grandfather. George Washington was elected to a second term which was somewhat difficult for him when war broke out between France and England. His desire was for the United States to remain neutral and others in the government felt aid should be given to France. As a result, Thomas Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton threatened to submit his resignation. By August, a severe epidemic of Yellow Fever spread over Philadelphia. The First Family traveled to Mt. Vernon until cold weather hit the city and ended the disease. March 4, 1797 was the day that George Washington gave his farewell to Congress and the Washingtons soon returned home to Mt. Vernon. They celebrated George's sixty-seventh birthday with a wedding ceremony. Young Nelly married his nephew, Lawrence Lewis. They lived at Mt. Vernon until they were given a portion of land of Mt. Vernon and their home, Woodlawn. After riding the grounds of Mt. Vernon one day, George returned home with a severe cold. He died December 14, 1799. Martha was too grief-stricken to attend the funeral. Upon his death, she closed the door to their bed chamber and moved herself to a tiny, plain garret chamber on the third floor of the mansion, directly over Nelly's bedroom. Twenty days before her beloved grandfathers death, Nelly gave birth to her first child, Frances Parke Lewis. She was unable to be with him in his final hours. The baby was a joy to Martha, and lessened the pain, somewhat, of her grief. The will of George Washington ordered the freedom of half of his slaves, leaving the old and the young to remain. Martha freed them all in 1800. Her own health was deteriorating and in March of 1802, sensing her death, she made a will. She then burned all her letters she and her husband had written to one another over the years, except for two. May 22, 1802, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington breathed her last with her beloved granddaughter Nelly nearby. She was entombed next to her husband at Mt. Vernon.
This excerpt taken from the RDN 8-K filed Nov 18, 2009. ARTICLE VPayment of Benefits (a) A Participant shall be paid the value of his or her Account (or portion thereof) beginning within 60 days after the Benefit Commencement Date in a single sum or in periodic installment payments payable annually for ten years as irrevocably elected by the Participant. The Participants Account will continue to be credited with earnings or losses calculated in accordance with his or her elections until the date upon which the Participants entire Account balance is distributed. (b) Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, with respect to amounts other than Grandfathered Deferrals, if a Participants distribution is to commence, or be paid upon, separation from service, payment of the distribution shall be delayed for a period of six months after the Participants separation from service, if the Participant is a specified employee as defined under section 409A of the Code (as determined by the Committee) and if required pursuant to section 409A of the Code (six-month delay). If payment is delayed, the Participants distribution shall commence, or be paid, within 30 days of the date that is the six-month anniversary of the Participants separation from service. If the Participant dies during the six-month delay, the accumulated postponed amount shall be paid as described in Section 4.02. (c) If the Participant has elected to receive his or her Account in annual installments, the first annual installment shall become payable on the Benefit Commencement Date (subject to the section 409A six-month delay requirement, if applicable). All subsequent installment payments shall be made each year on the anniversary of the date upon which the initial installment payment was made under this Section 5.01(c), including a payment date which was delayed as a result of the six-month delay. The Participants Account will continue to be credited with earnings or losses calculated in accordance with his or her elections until the date on which the Participants entire Account balance is distributed. Each annual payment shall be calculated by dividing the remaining value of the Account (or portion thereof) by the number of remaining annual installment payments to be made to the Participant. (d) Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, the payment of benefits with respect to all Grandfathered Deferrals shall be determined pursuant to Exhibit A. (e) Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, if the applicable performance period ends after the date on which a payment is to be made under the Plan, the payment date (the Benefit Commencement Date or the date described in Section 4.01, if applicable) for the Deferred Compensation attributable to that performance period shall be the later of (i) the date otherwise specified in the Plan, or (ii) January of the calendar year following the end of the performance period. Section 5.02 A Participants death benefit shall be payable to the Participants beneficiary as set forth in Article IV. (a) In the event of the Participants termination of employment with the Company and its Subsidiaries on account of Disability prior to his or her selected Benefit Commencement Date, the Participants Benefit Commencement Date shall be adjusted to the January following the Participants termination of employment on account of Disability, subject to the six-month delay described in 5.01(b), if applicable. (b) In the event of the Participants Retirement prior to his or her selected Benefit Commencement Date, the Participants Benefit Commencement Date shall be adjusted to the January following the Participants Retirement, subject to the six-month delay described in 5.01(b), if applicable. (c) The Participants Account shall be paid in the form elected by the Participant on his deferral election form pursuant to Section 2.03 (i.e., in a single sum payment or annual installment payments over a term of ten years). (d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Participant made a re-deferral election under Section 2.05 after December 31, 2008 with respect to amounts other than Grandfathered Deferrals, the Participants Account attributable to such re-deferred amounts may not be distributed until the Benefit Commencement Date designated in the re-deferral election, except in the event of the Participants Disability or death or as otherwise permitted by section 409A. (e) Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, the payment of benefits with respect to all Grandfathered Deferrals shall be determined pursuant to Exhibit A. Section 5.04 For amounts other than Grandfathered Deferrals, a Participant may elect to be paid all or any part of such amounts plus earnings thereon in the event such funds are needed in connection with an unforeseeable emergency (as determined by the Committee in accordance with applicable law). For purposes of this Section 5.04, an unforeseeable emergency is a severe financial hardship to the Participant resulting from an illness or accident of the Participant, the Participants spouse, the Participants beneficiary, or the Participants dependent (as defined in section 152 of the Code, without regard to sections 152(b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B)), loss of the Participants property due to casualty (including the need to rebuild a home following damage to a home not otherwise covered by insurance), or other similar extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances arising as a result of events beyond the control of the Participant. Unforeseeable emergency shall be administered in accordance with section 409A of the Code. (a) Any claim by a Participant or a beneficiary (hereafter the Claimant) for benefits shall be submitted in writing to the Committee. The Committee shall be responsible for deciding whether such claim is payable, or the claimed relief otherwise is allowable, under the provisions and rules of the Plan (a Covered Claim). The Committee otherwise shall be responsible for providing a full review of the Committees decision with regard to any claim, upon a written request. (b) Each Claimant or other interested person shall file with the Committee such pertinent information as the Committee may specify, and in such manner and form as the Committee may specify; and such person shall not have any rights or be entitled to any benefits, or further benefits, hereunder, as the case may be, unless the required information is filed by the Claimant or on behalf of the Claimant. Each Claimant shall supply, at such times and in such manner as may be required, written proof that the benefit is covered under the Plan. If it is determined that a Claimant has not incurred a Covered Claim or if the Claimant shall fail to furnish such proof as is requested, no benefits, or no further benefits, hereunder, as the case may be, shall be payable to such Claimant. (c) Notice of any decision by the Committee with respect to a claim generally shall be furnished to the Claimant within 90 days following the receipt of the claim by the Committee (or within 90 days following the expiration of the initial 90 day period in any case where there are special circumstances requiring extension of time for processing the claim). If special circumstances require an extension of time for processing the claim, written notice of the extension shall be furnished by the Committee to the Claimant. (d) Commencement of benefit payments shall constitute notice of approval of a claim to the extent of the amount of the approved benefit. If such claim shall be wholly or partially denied, such notice shall be in writing. If the Committee fails to notify the Claimant of the decision regarding their claim in accordance with this section, the claim shall be deemed denied, and the Claimant then shall be permitted to proceed with the claims review procedure provided for herein. (e) Within 60 days following receipt by the Claimant of notice of the claim denial, or within 60 days following the date of a deemed denial, the Claimant may appeal denial of the claim by filing a written application for review with the Committee. Following such request for review, the Committee shall fully review the decision denying the claim. The decision of the Committee then shall be made within 60 days following receipt by the Committee of a timely request for review (or within 120 days after such receipt, in a case where there are special circumstances requiring an extension of time for reviewing such denied claim). The Committee shall deliver its decision to the Claimant in writing. If the decision on review is not furnished within the prescribed time, the claim shall be deemed denied on review. (f) For all purposes under the Plan, the decision with respect to a claim (if no review is requested) and the decision with respect to a claims review (if requested), shall be final, binding and conclusive on all Participants, beneficiaries and other interested parties, as to all matters relating to the Plan and Plan benefits. Further, each claims determination under the Plan shall be made in the absolute and exclusive discretion and authority of the Committee. Section 5.06 If a Participant or beneficiary entitled to receive any benefits hereunder is a minor or is determined to be legally incapable of giving valid receipt and discharge for such benefits, benefits will be paid to such person as the Committee may designate for the benefit of such Participant or beneficiary. Such payments shall be considered a payment to such Participant or beneficiary and shall, to the extent made, be deemed a complete discharge of any liability for such payments under the Plan. Section 5.07 The Committee shall make all reasonable attempts to determine the identity and/or whereabouts of a Participant or a Participants beneficiary entitled to benefits under the Plan, including the mailing by certified mail of a notice to the last known address shown on the Companys or the Committees records. If the Committee is unable to locate such a person entitled to benefits hereunder, or if there has been no claim made for such benefits, the Company shall continue to hold the benefit due such person, subject to any applicable state escheat laws.
\|Publication number\|\|US8022116 B2\| \|Application number\|\|US 10/891,789\| \|Publication date\|\|Sep 20, 2011\| \|Filing date\|\|Jul 14, 2004\| \|Priority date\|\|Jul 18, 2003\| \|Also published as\|\|EP1661145A2, EP1661145A4, US20090224184, WO2005017556A2, WO2005017556A3\| \|Publication number\|\|10891789, 891789, US 8022116 B2, US 8022116B2, US-B2-8022116, US8022116 B2, US8022116B2\| \|Inventors\|\|Daniel D. Coppens, Martin John Lilley, John B. Jones\| \|Original Assignee\|\|Advanced Shielding Components, Llc\| \|Export Citation\|\|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan\| \|Patent Citations (41), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (4), Classifications (15), Legal Events (2)\| \|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet\| This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/488,674 filed Jul. 18, 2003. X-radiation is a powerful and commonly used tool in modern society. Specifically, x-radiation is commonly used as a diagnostic tool in medical and industrial (non-destructive testing) fields. However, exposure to radiation can be damaging to human health. In order to protect users, patients and x-ray technicians, steps have been taken to limit their exposure to x-rays. For example, flexible x-radiation attenuating materials worn as protective aprons have been created in order to protect patients and technicians alike. In addition, x-radiation equipment has been designed to incorporate with shielding properties to reduce x-radiation exposure from the source generator. In the field of x-ray equipment, shielding is required or mandated to reduce leakage of stray radiation to below specified maximum levels. Most shielded components of such equipment, such as x-ray tube housings, intensifier housings, collimators and filter devices, typically use a structural outer layer of metal for mechanical strength. This structural component is commonly machined, cast or forged aluminum, brass or steel. Since the aluminum, brass or steel is effectively radiolucent, the structural component is subsequently lined with a second layer of a material, such as lead, for radiation shielding. The lead shielding is typically held in place with an adhesive or by mechanical means, forming a multi-layer final structure with one layer providing strength and structure and the second layer providing x-radiation shielding. Lead is often the material of choice used for x-radiation shielding in medical and industrial x-ray equipment because it is low in cost and readily available. The use of lead, however, poses significant manufacturing challenges as well as health and environmental hazards. There are two major disadvantages of using lead for radiation shielding: toxicity and the heavy weight of the material. The toxicity of lead has been shown to pose significant health risks to humans. Those adversely affected can include both those involved in processing and those using shielding materials and equipment. The environmental impact resulting from the disposal of products containing lead is also well established and a serious modern-day concern. In order to limit lead exposure to humans, many industrialized nations regulate industries that use lead, including x-ray equipment manufacturers. In an effort to control, reduce or eliminate the use of lead, many industrialized nations have eliminated the manufacture and use of lead in products such as gasoline and paint. More recently, there has been a general determination to minimize the exposure of workers in plants which now use lead and, more importantly, to shield the general public from the adverse effects from lead in products and equipment and from the toxic waste resulting from the ultimate disposal of lead-containing products at the end of their useful life. The toxicity hazard can result from direct exposure to lead itself or indirectly: from exposure to an extractable source through groundwater leachate from land-fills (Ref. US EPA Toxicity Leachate Characteristic Procedures, “TCLP”, under US RCRA legislation); from solid residues; or from gaseous emissions from waste incineration. The determination to eliminate lead and certain other toxic materials from all electrical equipment, including x-ray equipment, has been established in a European toxic waste elimination directive known as “W.E.E.E.” (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Initiative, 2000/C365/E13) (Jul. 28, 2000). Not only is lead toxic, but also it is a heavy material that can add significant weight to components such as those required in x-ray equipment. As discussed previously, conventional x-ray equipment contains a lead liner to shield against x-radiation. The excessive weight of lead is especially troublesome because of the mass of lead shielding required to meet mandated radiation leakage standards. Thus, the mass of lead used is a significant proportion of the overall weight of x-ray equipment. Existing manufacturing techniques, which typically involve lining of a separate cast or machined metal structural housing with elemental lead, significantly increase the weight of such equipment. Due to the use of lead, current shielded components are relatively inefficient in terms of mass. They are heavy and complex because the structural metal housing provides insignificant radiation attenuation while the lead shielding, having poor mechanical strength, cannot provide a structural function. Heavy weight is a significant disadvantage for certain types of x-radiation equipment including portable equipment, such as “C-arm” x-ray diagnostic machines, and for equipment whose shielding components are moving or rotating, such as CT tube housings. In CT tube housings, rotational speeds are limited by inertial forces, which are in turn, dependent on their mass. In these applications, for rotational balance, overall shielding mass is further increased by the need for counterweights to preserve static balance. Lighter shielding components allow lower counterweight mass, which can further result in smaller and lighter supporting structures. Therefore, lowering the weight of the shielded structure can have an overall beneficial effect on the size, weight, cost and portability of x-ray units. Reduced mass can also permit higher rotational speeds of moving parts limited by inertial forces. In CT imaging, for example, reduced mass of the moving parts, especially of the tube head and housing, could permit faster revolution speed, which would lower image acquisition time and/or improve image definition. While providing adequate shielding at reduced weight is important, replacement components must still fit existing precise equipment designs and keep overall unit size to a minimum. To keep the volume of the structure small, components having high attenuation and also high density are often preferable. Although mandated radiation leakage testing is usually performed at the worst-case conditions of the peak applied voltage of the machine (typically 70 kVp to 80 kVp for dental x-ray units; 120 kVp to 150 kVp for medical x-ray units; 140 kVp to 160 kVp for CT tube housings; and up to and above 200 kVp for industrial units) shielding must be effective along the entire range of beam energies emanating from the x-ray unit. Shielding components on the receiving end of the radiation, such as intensifier housings, are tested using radiation from the highest voltage from the direct source beam even though they receive only a degraded, filtered and scattered spectrum of radiation in actual practice. Effective substitutes for lead must, therefore, shield radiation not only at the peak voltage of the machine but also along the entire effective range of beam energies and spectra. Several attempts have been made to create materials that provide acceptable shielding properties but which are lightweight, lead-free or both. For instance, flexible x-ray shielding materials have been available for many years and have been discussed by Yaffe, et al. (Health Physics, Vol. 60, No. 5). Yaffe discussed combining metals with flexible elastomers in order to produce lighter weight radiation protection aprons than those made from similar lead-powder filled rubbers or polymers. These compositions, however, are limited to flexible materials and do not anticipate incorporation of complementary metals into resins in order to create lightweight and rigid, lead-free integral radiation shielding structures. Recently, there have been attempts to replace only the lead shielding lining of x-ray equipment with lead-free polymer compositions using a single attenuating element. U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,476 to O'Conner describes a shielding material for a dental x-ray tube consisting of a shielding liner composed of barium sulfate filled polymers. This lead sheeting replacement is contained in and acts as a liner in a conventional structural metal housing. The polymer structure in O'Conner simply replaces the lead, while still requiring a layered structure with separate housing as in conventional equipment. Furthermore, the barium sulfate filled resins are implicitly proposed only for shielding dental tube heads which operate at low kVp (below 80 kVp) where barium is an effective x-radiation absorber. Such a shield would be highly ineffective in terms of mass per unit area relative to lead at the higher kVs found in most medical x-ray units. Although barium in elemental form, is more attenuation efficient than lead per unit mass up to about 100 kVp, in actual practice, one would require higher mass for equivalent attenuation. Higher mass would be required because barium is not available in unreactive elemental form, or in useful high concentration alloy form. Barium sulfate, the only available non-toxic barium salt, contains 41% deadweight of radiolucent sulfate, and has low density which prevents high concentration by weight in compounding. Furthermore, the resulting very low composition density would create much thicker shielding liners, on the order of several times thicker than lead for equivalent shielding. More recently, there have been several additional attempts, both using lead and lead-free formulations, to combine structural and shielding functions in a monolithic polymeric composition. However, these only teach the use of one element for attenuation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,792 to Verat describes an x-ray image intensifier tube casing with the outside structural component made from a molded thermoplastic resin loaded with a shielding material such as lead oxide. This technology is specific to intensifier tube housings and uses a single metal or metal oxide (preferably PbO) in an injection moldable thermoplastic resin. Lead-free filled polymer shielding compositions using only a single attenuating element are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,379 to Bray et al., which teaches the use of tungsten as the attenuating element in a binder. Bray teaches the use of such material as a lead replacement for use in traditional lead applications, such as projectiles, where density equivalents is desired. Bray also claims tungsten powder in a broad variety of resins formed into articles used for radiation shielding, including housings. Single element-based attenuators such as tungsten have a lower shielding efficiency relative (per unit mass) to lead, or conversely require greater elemental mass than lead for equal shielding at most normal medical beam energies, which typically range from 50 kVp to 150 kVp. Single element based attenuators have a lower shielding efficiency due to a number of factors. In the case of tungsten, with the use of energy beams up to 120 kVp, a significant portion of the beam energy spectrum, including the typical emission spike from conventional tungsten-based anodes, falls in the 55 keV to 69 KeV “K-edge” tungsten window causing poor attenuation. At elevated beam energies, such as 120 kVp to 150 kVp, or at lower kVp but with high beam filtration, the attenuation coefficient of tungsten is simply well below that of lead, both overall, and for the greater part of the beam spectrum. Therefore, the tungsten/resin compositions of Bray do not anticipate and cannot produce shielding or complete monolithic shielded components lighter in weight than elemental lead when used for radiation protection. Single element-based attenuating compositions, such as those using barium or tungsten, also exhibit a large variability in their shielding efficiency (per unit mass), along the radiation spectrum, compared to lead. None of the above-cited references addresses this issue, nor do cited test data reflect the existence of this shielding factor variability with beam energy and spectra. In addition, a frequent commercial requirement of such compositions and their components is flame retardancy without the use of toxic or hazardous flame retardants. While the use of such flame retardant agents in polymer compositions is known in the art, their introduction to highly filled, dense shielding compositions requires volumetric space. The use of flame retardant agents displaces and reduces the maximum permissible filler loading of attenuating elements, thereby reducing composition density and adding slightly to the required mass of composition for equivalent shielding in an integral structure. While there have been several attempts at creating lead-free x-ray shielding materials, there remains a need for lightweight and rigid, lead-free, integral, monolithic radiation shielding structures. There is a further need for such x-radiation shielding structures that can shield radiation over a wide range of energies between 50 kVp and 150 kVp, and even up to 200 kVp. The present invention solves the afore-mentioned problems and provides complex molded x-radiation shielding components with varying densities that can be formulated to provide structural strength with x-radiation shielding. This invention provides lightweight radiation shielding structural compositions, which combine the structural and radiation shielding functions in an integral and monolithic structural composition. Another object of this invention is the reduction or elimination of lead from radiation shielding structural compositions. Yet another objective is the production of radiation shielding structural compositions that have fire retardant properties. Yet another object of the present invention is the production of radiation shielding structural compositions with low density. Specifically, the present invention provides lightweight and rigid, lead-free, integral radiation shielding structural compositions comprising at least two radiation shielding elements in elemental or alloyed form, or compounds thereof, having complementary radiation attenuation characteristics, dispersed in a thermoset or thermoplastic resin. The present invention provides both lead-free compositions and those containing lead. More specifically, the present invention provides lightweight and rigid, lead-free integral radiation shielding structural compositions comprising at least two radiation shielding elements selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth, iodine, tungsten, tin, tantalum, erbium and barium, or salts, compounds or alloys thereof dispersed in a thermoplastic or thermoset resin that can shield x-rays having energies between 50 kVp and 200 kVp, preferably between 100 kVp and 160 kVp, more preferably between 120 kVp and 150 kVp. The present invention provides components of complex shapes and varying thicknesses. The present invention also provides formulations that include various fillers or bulking agents for creating components requiring greater strength and reduced densities. The present invention is based on the discovery of a group of lead-free and leaded compositions, using two or more specific combinations of radiation attenuation-compatible powdered elements, salts, compounds or alloys thereof, of medium to high density which are mixed with a resin or polymeric carrier or binder at a high filler loading. Each element provides a unique pattern of attenuation versus radiation energy. Combining compatible elements results in a composition with a greater attenuation per unit mass than the individual elements alone. Shielding mass is reduced both by the use of mixtures of powders of elements with complementary radiation attenuating characteristics which have lower combined unit mass at equal shielding properties to lead, and by the forming of those elements in a resin matrix into monolithic rigid components having suitable mechanical and structural strength properties. The overall mass of composition, per unit area, is significantly below the mass of lead required for equivalent shielding, and is even lighter in mass, per unit area, than the whole shielded housing structure of conventional equipment consisting of lead sheet lined aluminum. The present invention provides lightweight and rigid, integral radiation shielding structural compositions comprising at least two radiation attenuating elements or compounds thereof, selected for having complementary radiation attenuating characteristics, dispersed in a thermoplastic or thermoset resin. Such compositions, when formed, shaped or molded into complete components have adequate mechanical properties such as rigidity, tensile and flexural properties and impact strength. Resulting components can have a flexural modulus of from about 300 to about 30,000 MPa and preferably from about 3,000 to about 7,000 MPa. The resulting components can have an ultimate tensile strength of from about 20 MPa with a preferred strength of from about 30 MPa. Formed compositions of the present invention can replace both layers of a desired component, the lead shielding and the supporting structure, with a single-layer, monolithic structural material having integral shielding and having a density such that the thickness is within the range of 25% to 200% of equivalent lead-aluminum housing structures. The resulting structures of the present invention have a preferred density of from about 3.5 g/cc. With the appropriate selection of different combinations of elements, a range of compositions can provide such lower-mass per unit area components to function at different peak energies, as kVp, and having application over the commonly used broad energy ranges below the design peak of the equipment. Such compositions can be flame-retarded as required, for example to provide adequate V-0 per UL 94 tests, while maintaining such lower shielding mass efficiency and, when formed, can be machined, drilled, painted, etc. as required in the commercial use of such components. By appropriate selection of resin matrix, as commonly known in the art, such compositions can form components which can operate at the elevated temperatures required in pressurized, oil-filled x-ray tube housings. The components can withstand physical or chemical degradation of mechanical properties caused by immersion in such commonly used cooling fluids. Components of the present invention can also perform within acceptable resin degradation limits caused by irradiation commonly found with medical or dental x-ray equipment. Structural compositions of the present invention are formulated using a resin component, at least two x-radiation attenuating elements and in some preferred formulations, fillers, reinforcing fibers and other ingredients such as fire or smoke retardants. For consistency and clarity, all ingredients are shown in weight % and elemental weight %. The resin component and the preferred filler components are presented first in each preferred structural composition. The balance of materials is presented next and includes the amounts of attenuating elements. For example, if the resin amount is 20%, then the balance of the structural composition comprises 80% of the overall weight. Of that 80% balance, the structural composition comprises various proportions of attenuating elements. Thus, if the attenuating elements comprise 50% tungsten and 50% bismuth, the amount of tungsten and bismuth each equals 50% of the 80% overall weight balance (or 40% of the overall weight of the structural composition). While the specific elements can be incorporated in elemental or alloyed form or as salts, oxides and compounds thereof, the overall elemental proportion is determined after deducting the resin weight and any dead weight radiolucent cations, such as salt components, radiolucent alloying metals, reinforcing fibers, bulking filler materials or fire and smoke retardants. For example, if a structural composition comprises 10 g of resin and 90 g of tin oxide, with the oxide comprising 10% of the tin oxide, then the resulting elemental weight % of the tin component is 90 g×0.90 or 81 g. The lead-free formulations of the present invention teach the use of several combinations of two or more x-radiation attenuating elements selected for having complementary K-edge radiation attenuating characteristics, including antimony, bismuth, iodine, tungsten, tin, tantalum, erbium and barium in elemental or alloyed form or compounds thereof, in specific weight proportions. Since each element has a specific attenuation, the selection of elements depends upon the desired attenuation in the resulting component. For example, if two elements were selected with similar attenuation characteristics, the resulting component would have roughly the same attenuation of the individual elements. Conversely, by selecting complementary elements, a resulting composition can have improved attenuation per unit mass. Lightweight leaded compositions can be formulated in the same manner. In these formulations, lead substitutes for bismuth at the same weight proportion as defined for bismuth. In addition to complementary attenuation characteristics, the elements are selected with compatible particle size distribution to provide maximum packing fraction and minimum filler volume according to techniques known in the art. The specific weight proportions will depend upon the desired attenuation and other performance characteristics. The specific elements can be added in elemental or alloyed form or compounds thereof including salts and oxides. The choice of elements consists of selecting at least one element from at least two different groups. For example, one x-radiation shielding structure of the present invention includes from about 10% to about 85% in elemental weight % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of antimony, tin, barium and iodine; and from about 15% to about 90% in elemental weight % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of bismuth, tungsten, tantalum and erbium. The selected combination of elements are then mixed with an appropriate resin and molded, cast or formed into a radiation shielding structure. As one skilled in the art is readily aware, the specific choice of resin depends upon the desired formulation and handling characteristics and curing requirements. The resin, or copolymer thereof, can be at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxies, vinyl esters, unsaturated polyesters, phenolics, polyesters, polyamides, polyarylether ketones, polyether ether ketones, polysulfones, poly aryl sulfones, acrylics, polyimides, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyether imides, polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polyurethanes, ethylene copolymers, poly vinyl chlorides, silicones, polycarbonates, polyphenyleneoxide, polycyanates, cyanate esters, bismaleimides and acetals. Preferred embodiments include from about 5% to about 20% by weight resin with a more preferred resin amount of from about 7% to about 12%. In addition, the resin, filler loading and particle size and distribution were selected and designed using known techniques such that the effective viscosity of the mixture was low enough to permit homogeneous mixing while permitting air release and adequate flow during molding. The viscosity was high enough to prevent settling out of the higher-density fillers during both mixing and molding. In order to improve final structural or mechanical properties, glass, other fiber reinforcement or other fillers known in the art can be added to the resin. Typical fiber reinforcement is 5-30 phr, but to avoid taking up too much resin volume, is preferably limited to 5-20 phr, and more preferably limited to 5-10 phr. The fiber reinforcement can be at least one selected from the group consisting of glass, carbon fiber, boron fiber, steel, tungsten, aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and polybenzoxazole. Other fillers such as fumed silica, microballoons, or other lightweight non-structural additives can be added to the formulation to manipulate the ultimate density of the structure. Preferred lower density formulations use from about 5% to about 30% resin and up to about 30% by weight non-attenuating fillers. Other desirable functions, such as magnetic shielding or electrical conductivity, can be achieved by incorporating mu-metal or conducting elements, such as high conductivity carbon nano-fibers, into the component during the molding process. The present invention can also incorporate non-toxic and non-hazardous flame and smoke retardant compounds, without adding significant mass or lowering shielding properties. Non-toxic flame retardants which can be used include, but are not limited to aluminum trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, zinc borate and other salts of boric acid. A single retardant can be used as well as a mixture of more than one retardant. While x-ray equipment is used herein as an example, the compositions of the present invention can be molded or machined into essentially any shape where shielding is desired. The ability to form a single monolithic structure with built-in shielding properties also simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the handwork required to manufacture and combine several different and separate components of the structure such as the casing, lead liner, and the magnetic and/or electrical shielding. Although the principal applications and weight-saving benefits are envisaged where such structures are provided to shield x-radiation, the principles and teachings can extend to shielding certain gamma radiation, particularly those from commonly used radionucleides in nuclear medicine, such as Cs-131, I-125, Am-241, Tl-201, Hg-197, Co-57, Tc-99m and I-131, with the majority of the radionucleide energy below 200 KeV. Such structures include, but are not limited to, vials, boxes, transport pouches and syringe covers. Other products include gamma ray protective devices for the handling, transport and use of radioactive isotopes used in nuclear medicine. Additionally such structures can shield against the bremsstrahlung secondary x-radiation created by high-energy beta radiation emitted from beta-emitting radiochemicals such as Yttrium-90, for example in syringe covers, or for combination gamma/beta emitters. In addition, components made from the compositions of the present invention can be used for shielding against x-radiation and/or gamma radiation in the nuclear industry, for physics research or in radiation therapy. It should also be understood, that while the greatest weight savings and minimum component thickness occur at maximum attenuating filler loadings, in certain circumstances, for example to modify mechanical structure properties, or to match existing housing wall thickness or exact volume and shape for existing fittings, it may be necessary to compromise this optimum loading by dilution with additional resin or bulking fillers, or both. This thickness bulking, where required, adds little additional overall structure weight, and such matched dimension components still exhibit significant mass-savings over the lead shielding alone, and even greater mass-savings when compared to complete lined housings. The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples. This example shows a dense and lead-free, highly-filled, two-element composition with varying thickness. Two attenuating elements in powder form including 70% by weight antimony, and 30% by weight tungsten were mixed together. The elements were selected with compatible particle size distribution to provide maximum packing fraction and minimum filler volume according to techniques known in the art. The powdered elements were homogeneously mixed with an epoxy resin such that the filler volume represented 50% by volume of the total composition. The mixed composition was compression molded into a series of sheets of different thickness. Each sheet was then divided into samples and tested for radiation shielding properties and for physical and mechanical properties using standard ASTM methods. 1.45 mm Pb @ 120 kVp, HVL 7.6 mm Al Ult. Tensile Strength 5100 psi (35 Mpa) Flex Modulus (10% D) 1,500,000 psi (10300 Mpa) Mass per unit area 15.0 kg/sq m Mass of equivalent lead sheet 16.44 kg/sq m The 3.1 mm thick sample was designed for comparison to an x-ray intensifier housing conventionally made as a 2 mm layer of aluminum lined with 1 mm sheet lead. The conventionally made housing provides a lead attenuation equivalence of 1.39 mm Pb. Such intensifiers are commonly operated with primary beam energies in the range 90 kVp to 120 kVp, which after filtration, degradation and scattering approximate to 80 kVp to 110 kVp beams. Sample 1, a single layer measuring 3.1 mm, had excellent rigidity and mechanical properties and had shielding values equivalent to lead sheeting at lower mass. Although the example was made as a flat sheet, the composition was suitable for molding into any complex thin walled shape and can be molded as a replacement for a conventional x-ray intensifier housing or any desired component. This same composition, molded to 2.2 mm thickness, had shielding performance equivalent to a 1 mm Pb lead sheet (at 100 kVp) and weighed 10.2 kg/sq m. The 2.1 mm sample was 10% lower mass per unit area than 1 mm of Pb (11.34 kg/sq m) and 39% lighter in mass than the total housing structure of 1 mm lead plus 2 mm aluminum (16.74 kg/sq m, with average density of 5.58 gm/cc). Its thickness (2.2 mm) is higher than the shielding thickness of lead (1 mm) but less than the 3 mm complete housing thickness. For a cylindrical intensifier housing having a typical shielded area of 0.3-0.5 sq m of material, this composition would reduce overall equipment weight by approximately 2-4 kg, excluding any counterweights, permit a reduced structure (e.g. in a “C-Arm” configuration) and improve portability. This composition would have application in similar medical x-ray machine components, operated at similar kVp, such as filter/collimator housings and shutters. This example shows the effect of filler loading on the mechanical properties of the formed composition and alternative forming techniques. A lead-free, two-element filled composition, as in Example 1, was prepared and tested in the same manner. The loading of metallic powdered elements in this example was 36% by volume. The mixture was poured (cast) into a flat mold for plaques, which were cut up and tested as in Example 1. The epoxy resin used was the same as in Example 1, having a mix viscosity of 580 cps (@72 F) and a pot-life of 21 minutes. 1.1 mm Pb @ 120 kVp, HVL 6.41 Ult. Tensile Strength 5360 psi (37 Mpa) Flex Modulus (10% D) 960,000 psi (6620 Mpa) Sample Mass per unit area 11.67 kg/sq m Mass of equivalent lead sheet 12.47 kg/sq m Mass of 1 mm Pb/2 mm Al 16.74 kg/sq m Sample 2 had adequate flexural modulus and mechanical strength as well as greater toughness and impact strength than Sample 1 from Example 1. This sample survived a drop test and still demonstrated mass benefits compared to conventional lead shielded structures. The resulting sample was 7% lighter in weight than 1 mm lead shielding and 33% less area weight than 1 mm lead lined 2 mm aluminum. Despite the high filler loading, the mechanical properties were much closer to that of unfilled resin, which has a tensile strength of 7300 psi, elongation of 4.5%, and flex modulus of 450,000 psi. A lead-free composition, as in Example 2, was prepared and tested in the same manner. The loading of metallic fillers in this example was 36% by volume, but with added chopped glass fiber at 10% by volume of resin. The mixture was pressed into plaques, which were cut up and tested as in Examples 1 and 2. The samples showed improved mechanical strength properties, with greater tensile and flexural strengths and increased flexural modulus This example shows the minimum optimized weight vs. shielding for an antimony-tungsten system (for 100 kVp beam energy). A lead-free, two-element filled composition was prepared and tested in the same manner as Example 1. The loading of the antimony and tungsten metallic fillers was 55% by volume in this example. The epoxy resin system was changed for better mechanical properties and greater pot-life and the compound was flame-retarded using ATH. The final structure was painted. The composition comprised: Antimony 61.2% wt Tungsten 26.2% wt Radiopaque pigment 1.4% wt ATH 1.0% wt Epoxy Resin 10.2% wt The test data is shown below: 1.0 mm Pb @ 85 kVp, Filter 1 mm Al 1.0 mm Pb @ 100 kVp, Filter 1 mm Al 0.74 mm Pb @ 120 kVp, Filter 1 mm Al 0.63 mm Pb @ 140 kVp, Filter 1 mm Al Ult. Tensile Strength 7530 psi (52 Mpa) 13650 psi (94 Mpa) 1520000 psi (10480 Mpa) Mass per unit area 9.01 kg/sq m Mass of equivalent lead sheet 11.34 kg/sq m Mass of 1 mm Pb/2 mm Al 16.74 kg/sq m Average Density of 1 mm Pb/ 2 mm Al The resulting component showed a 20% mass saving compared to a 1 mm lead sheet, and a 46% mass saving compared to a housing constructed of 1 mm lead lining 2 mm aluminum with equivalent shielding. The sensitivity to beam energy, kVp, also demonstrates the necessity to customize the selection of attenuating elements and their proportions for shielding against specific beam energies (kVp), in this case 90-120 kVp, suitable for intensifiers and fluoroscopy collimators and filter components operating at or below this limit. There is a clear decrease in shielding value (lead equivalence) at the higher energies tested, making it unsuitable for shielding at high energies, due to the increased weight required. In the above example, to operate at 140 kVp would require 14.3 kg/sq m of this material, instead of the 9.01 required at 100 kVp, making this composition 26% heavier than the lead equivalent and only 15% lighter than a 1 mm lead-lined 2 mm aluminum housing with equivalent shielding performance. These examples show alternative element systems of equal compound density and volumetric filler loading, using tin and bismuth in ratios suitable for 100 kVp energy beams. Two alternative, two-element filled, compositions comparable to Examples 1 in weight and shielding performance in the 90-120 kVp range were prepared and tested, in the same manner as Example 1, using tin and bismuth metallic fillers in different ratios, 55/45% wt and 65/35% wt respectively, with the attenuating fillers 40% by volume of the compound and using a vinyl ester resin system, the second sample, 4-B, being glass reinforced. The compositions were: Glass fiber chop mm Pb@ 100 kVp, Mass per unit area Mass of equivalent Mass of 1 mm Pb/ 2 mm Al Average density of 1 mm Pb/2 mm Al The resulting plaques were comparable in weight and shielding performance to Example 1 and showed a 3-6% mass saving compared to 1 mm of lead; and a 34-36% mass savings compared to a 1 mm lead-lined 2 mm aluminum housing with equivalent shielding performance. This example demonstrates that for certain shielding requirements for certain beam energies, there are options as to selection and combinations of elements, in different ratios which can result in similar weight-shielding performance, but may have different costs. Although these samples were made using powders of each individual metal, since tin-bismuth alloys are widely commercially available in these metallic proportions, it would be possible to substitute the corresponding alloy in similar finely divided form with the same result. Since lead and bismuth are adjoining elements in the periodic table, and have correspondingly similar radiation attenuation characteristics per unit mass, lead can be substituted for bismuth in both of the above formulations if a non lead-free composition is required or permitted. Since the density of lead, 11.34 gm/cc is slightly higher than that of bismuth, 9.7 gm/cc, such equivalent leaded compositions would have slightly lower volume and higher density and corresponding less thickness for equal area mass and shielding value. Alternatively, the leaded-filler volume proportion can be equalized to maintain mechanical properties. These examples and the foregoing description are illustrative of this invention. It is understood that those skilled in the art may devise alternatives to those discussed. The present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives that fall within the scope of the following claims. \|Cited Patent\|\|Filing date\|\|Publication date\|\|Applicant\|\|Title\| \|US3514607 \|\|Dec 6, 1967\|\|May 26, 1970\|\|Massachusetts Gen Hospital\|\|Composite shields against low energy x-rays\| \|US4157476\|\|Feb 3, 1978\|\|Jun 5, 1979\|\|General Electric Company\|\|Dental X-ray tube head\| \|US4563494\|\|Nov 3, 1983\|\|Jan 7, 1986\|\|Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.\|\|Synthetic resin composition and process for producing the same\| \|US4587277\|\|Nov 21, 1983\|\|May 6, 1986\|\|Yukiyasu Unno\|\|Radiation shield\| \|US4619963\|\|Jul 2, 1984\|\|Oct 28, 1986\|\|Toray Industries, Inc.\|\|Radiation shielding composite sheet material\| \|US4795654\|\|Oct 2, 1986\|\|Jan 3, 1989\|\|Innofinance Altalanos Innovacios Penzintezet\|\|Structure for shielding X-ray and gamma radiation\| \|US4938233\|\|Aug 3, 1987\|\|Jul 3, 1990\|\|Techton, Inc.\|\|Radiation shield\| \|US5237930\|\|Feb 7, 1992\|\|Aug 24, 1993\|\|Snc Industrial Technologies, Inc.\|\|Frangible practice ammunition\| \|US5245195\|\|Dec 5, 1991\|\|Sep 14, 1993\|\|Polygenex International, Inc.\|\|Radiation resistant film\| \|US5247182\|\|Sep 30, 1991\|\|Sep 21, 1993\|\|Servant Raymond H\|\|Clothing for protection of gonadal region\| \|US5278219\|\|Jun 25, 1992\|\|Jan 11, 1994\|\|Lilley Martin J\|\|Flexible highly filled compositions\| \|US5304792\|\|Oct 27, 1992\|\|Apr 19, 1994\|\|Thomson Tubes Electroniques\|\|X-ray image intensifier tube casing\| \|US5321272\|\|Dec 18, 1992\|\|Jun 14, 1994\|\|General Electric Company\|\|X-ray beam stop\| \|US5523581\|\|Sep 23, 1994\|\|Jun 4, 1996\|\|Wit, Inc.\|\|Slipcover for radiation shields\| \|US5548125\|\|Jul 16, 1992\|\|Aug 20, 1996\|\|Smith & Nephew Plc\|\|Radiation protective glove\| \|US5550383\|\|Apr 17, 1995\|\|Aug 27, 1996\|\|Haskell; Douglas A.\|\|Remoldable thermoplastic radiation shield for use during radiation therapy\| \|US5883938\|\|Jul 2, 1997\|\|Mar 16, 1999\|\|Siemens Aktiengesellschaft\|\|X-ray radiator with an exterior, fully removable, radiation protective cladding\| \|US5908884\|\|Sep 16, 1997\|\|Jun 1, 1999\|\|Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.\|\|Radiation shielding material and producing method thereof\| \|US6048379\|\|Jun 27, 1997\|\|Apr 11, 2000\|\|Ideas To Market, L.P.\|\|High density composite material\| \|US6153666\|\|Jul 16, 1998\|\|Nov 28, 2000\|\|Bar-Ray Products, Inc.\|\|Radiation-attenuating sheet material\| \|US6281515\|\|Dec 7, 1998\|\|Aug 28, 2001\|\|Meridian Research And Development\|\|Lightweight radiation protective garments\| \|US6310355\|\|Feb 18, 1999\|\|Oct 30, 2001\|\|Worldwide Innovations And Technologies, Inc.\|\|Lightweight radiation shield system\| \|US6459091\|\|Aug 27, 2001\|\|Oct 1, 2002\|\|Meridian Research And Development\|\|Lightweight radiation protective garments\| \|US6517774\|\|Dec 3, 1999\|\|Feb 11, 2003\|\|Ideas To Market, L.P.\|\|High density composite material\| \|US6548570\|\|Nov 16, 2000\|\|Apr 15, 2003\|\|Arntz Beteiligungs Gmbh & Co. Kg\|\|Method for manufacturing a radiation shielding material\| \|US6550964\|\|May 1, 2001\|\|Apr 22, 2003\|\|Ge Medical Systems Global Technology Company Llc\|\|Covering device for cover elements which are mobile with relation to the other and radiology machine having such a covering device\| \|US6619842\|\|Jan 26, 2000\|\|Sep 16, 2003\|\|Varian Medical Systems, Inc.\|\|X-ray tube and method of manufacture\| \|US6674087\|\|Jan 31, 2001\|\|Jan 6, 2004\|\|Worldwide Innovations & Technologies, Inc.\|\|Radiation attenuation system\| \|US6828578\|\|Sep 9, 2002\|\|Dec 7, 2004\|\|Meridian Research And Development\|\|Lightweight radiation protective articles and methods for making them\| \|US6841791\|\|Jul 16, 2003\|\|Jan 11, 2005\|\|Meridian Research And Development\|\|Multiple hazard protection articles and methods for making them\| \|US20030027005\|\|Apr 26, 2002\|\|Feb 6, 2003\|\|Elliott Kenneth H.\|\|Composite material containing tungsten, tin and organic additive\| \|US20030161751\|\|Oct 16, 2002\|\|Aug 28, 2003\|\|Elliott Kenneth H.\|\|Composite material containing tungsten and bronze\| \|US20030164063\|\|Oct 15, 2002\|\|Sep 4, 2003\|\|Elliott Kenneth H.\|\|Tungsten/powdered metal/polymer high density non-toxic composites\| \|US20030168637\|\|Mar 9, 2002\|\|Sep 11, 2003\|\|Mccord Stuart James\|\|Tungsten-precursor composite\| \|US20040147652\|\|May 21, 2002\|\|Jul 29, 2004\|\|Pierre-Marie Lemer\|\|Novel radiation attenuating material and method for making same\| \|AU626944B2\|\|Title not available\| \|DE10234159A1\|\|Title not available\| \|DE19955192A1\|\|Nov 16, 1999\|\|May 31, 2001\|\|Arntz Beteiligungs Gmbh & Co\|\|Production of elastomeric radiation protective material comprises mixing of high atomic weight metal powder with inorganic additive and incorporation into elastomer\| \|EP0370812A2\|\|Nov 23, 1989\|\|May 30, 1990\|\|Du Pont Canada Inc.\|\|Method of fractional attenuation of electromagnetic radiation\| \|EP0371699A1\|\|Nov 23, 1989\|\|Jun 6, 1990\|\|Du Pont Canada Inc.\|\|Radiation protection material\| \|EP0372758A1\|\|Nov 23, 1989\|\|Jun 13, 1990\|\|Du Pont Canada Inc.\|\|Highly filled compositions\| \|1\|\|Yaffe, Martin J., et al., Composite Materials For X-Ray Protection, Health Physics, vol. 60, No. 5, pp. 661-664, May 1991.\| \|Citing Patent\|\|Filing date\|\|Publication date\|\|Applicant\|\|Title\| \|US9434495 \|\|Apr 25, 2014\|\|Sep 6, 2016\|\|Hitachi Zosen Corporation\|\|Shield and electron beam container sterilization equipment\| \|US9627500\|\|Dec 17, 2015\|\|Apr 18, 2017\|\|Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.\|\|Semiconductor device having work-function metal and method of forming the same\| \|US20160083131 \|\|Apr 25, 2014\|\|Mar 24, 2016\|\|Hitachi Zosen Corporation\|\|Shield and electron beam container sterilization equipment\| \|USRE44036 \|\|Dec 21, 2011\|\|Mar 5, 2013\|\|Stuart J. McCord\|\|Lead free barium sulfate electrical insulator and method of manufacture\| \|U.S. Classification\|\|523/136, 524/439, 524/441, 524/440\| \|International Classification\|\|C08K3/00, C08K3/08, G01T, G21F1/10\| \|Cooperative Classification\|\|C08K3/08, G21Y2002/301, G21F1/10, G21Y2002/304, G21Y2004/10\| \|European Classification\|\|C08K3/08, G21F1/10\| \|Aug 27, 2004\|\|AS\|\|Assignment\| Owner name: ADVANCED SHIELDING COMPONENTS, LLC, PENNSYLVANIA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:COPPENS, DANIEL D.;LILLEY, MARTIN;JONES, JOHN B.;REEL/FRAME:015089/0146 Effective date: 20040719 \|Feb 25, 2015\|\|FPAY\|\|Fee payment\| Year of fee payment: 4
The Minneapolis-St. Paul region has long boasted of its strong base of Fortune 500 and 1000 firms that include Target, American Express, US Bancorp, Best Buy and General Mills. But over the past few years these giant corporations have compounded the problems of a struggling office market by vacating millions of square feet of space and moving to shiny new corporate headquarters. Historically, a diverse economy that includes a strong base of financial, medical technology, healthcare and personal service businesses has buoyed the region. The problem in the Twin Cities, as with the rest of the country, is that business spending has been dismal for the last three years, notes Michael Swanson, senior economist with Wells Fargo & Co. in Minneapolis. On a national level, business spending plummeted by about $90 billion between the fourth quarter of 1999 and the third quarter of 2001. Up to this point, a lack of spending and job growth have slowed leasing activity in the office, industrial and apartment sectors. However, there are signs that a turnaround is unfolding. National business spending recovered to a positive $10 billion in the second quarter of 2003. “We are lucky to be home to a number of large corporate headquarters,” Swanson says. That prestigious list includes 3M, Medtronic, Target, Carlson Cos. and Cargill. “Those corporations will be very valuable in the next business expansion.” There's more good news: the national economy has experienced positive economic growth over the past seven quarters. The Commerce Department reported that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter rose at a 3.3% annual rate, up from 1.4% in the first quarter. Economists expect GDP to grow at a 4.5% rate in the third quarter. “To the extent that the overall U.S. economy continues to rebound, we will mirror it,” says Tim Murnane, vice president and general manager of real estate development at Opus Northwest LLC. “That is what we believe will happen in 2004.” But for the moment, both the office and industrial markets in the Twin Cities continue to be plagued by double-digit vacancies and soft rental rates. Even the historically strong apartment market has taken a hit due to explosive single-family home sales. “The challenge for the real estate industry is that we are out of the recession, but we don't have positive job growth yet,” says Whit Peyton, senior managing director with CB Richard Ellis in Bloomington, Minn. A booming retail market is one of the few bright spots on the Minneapolis-St. Paul real estate landscape. Retail vacancies across the metro registered 5.3% in the second quarter, down from 6.1% at mid-year 2002, according to Bloomington-based United Properties. In addition, more than 2.8 million sq. ft. of retail shopping center space was under construction at the end of the second quarter, with 2.1 million sq. ft. scheduled to open by the end of the year. Sustained Office Slump The most beleaguered sector remains the office market. With a mid-year vacancy rate of 18.4%, the biggest question facing the office market is whether the situation will get worse before it improves. “We are near the bottom,” Peyton says. “We have seen activity among the small players, and traditionally they are the people who lead us out of the recession.” In past recessions, Minneapolis relied on its enviable base of Fortune 500 and 1000 firms to insulate the real estate industry from market dips. “This time, the big users of space were also cutting back,” Peyton notes. A wave of corporate consolidation left a slew of vacancies: Combined, American Express and Target vacated more than 1.3 million sq. ft. in the Minneapolis CBD when they consolidated to new corporate facilities downtown. Meanwhile, Best Buy vacated 800,000 sq. ft. in the southwest suburbs when it consolidated to a 1.5 million sq. ft. campus in Richfield. “The good news is that the market did absorb about 25% of the available sublease space during the first six months of the year,” says Dan Gleason, a vice president at United Properties. Overall, available sublease office space shrank from 2.4 million sq. ft. at year-end 2002 to 1.8 million sq. ft. through the second quarter, according to United Properties. Virtually no new office development is planned over the next six months. The only sizable project under way is the 138,000 sq. ft. Depot Office Center in the Minneapolis CBD. St. Paul-based CSM Corp. is developing the building, which is 85% pre-leased and will open in December. Office properties that are well-leased continue to attract investor interest and premium pricing. For example, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust bought US Bancorp Center in Downtown Minneapolis this spring for $174 million, or $187 per sq. ft. The 929,000 sq. ft. building was 99% occupied. Rental rates continue to decline. Net quoted rates are down to $11.89 per sq. ft. overall compared with $12.56 per sq. ft. at year-end 2002. Industrial Remains Lethargic The vacancy rate for industrial properties in the Twin Cities increased from 14.6% at year-end 2002 to 15.9% at mid-year 2003, according to United Properties. The market was hit hard by negative absorption of 1.04 million sq. ft. in the first half compared with the 410,000 sq. ft. that was absorbed in 2002. Corporations taking advantage of low interest rates to buy, rather than lease, space also compounded the vacancy problem. “We still have too much vacant space in the market, and we will have to burn off a fair amount before the market improves,” says Raymond Reese, a senior vice president in the Minneapolis office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Roughly 20 million sq. ft. of vacant space is on the market, Reese notes, a whopping figure considering the total rentable universe in the Twin Cities is about 77.3 million sq. ft. The good news is that activity is picking up, particularly in pockets such as the northwest submarket, where vacancies fell from 21.6% in the second quarter of 2002 to 8.9% in the second quarter of 2003, according to Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. LDI Distribution Center in Brooklyn Park, for example, is now 100% leased thanks to a 128,000 sq. ft. lease by Xpedx, a printing supplies distributor. “The cautious optimism of some companies will build as their business rebounds,” Reese says. An estimated 424,443 sq. ft. of industrial space was under construction at mid-year, including the new Energy Park Corporate Center in the Midway area of St. Paul. Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. completed the 108,000 sq. ft. office showroom in August, which opened 60% leased. Office showroom buildings offer smaller bay sizes and a higher degree of office space compared with office warehouse space. Strong consumer spending and a growing population have helped fuel retail expansion. Population in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metro reached 2.64 million in 2000, and is expected to grow by more than 30,000 people each year to reach nearly 3 million by 2010, according to U.S. Census data. Competition in the grocery sector is heating up with the addition of Pewaukee, Wis.-based Roundy's, which recently entered the market with the purchase of 30 former Rainbow Foods stores from Dallas-based Fleming Cos. Inc. At the same time, another key player in the grocery sector is beefing up its presence. Cub Foods, owned by Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu Inc., plans to add six new stores in the Twin Cities by early 2005, boosting its total number of stores in the metro area to 50. “Our reliance on the grocery-anchored centers has declined a little bit,” says John Johannson, a senior vice president of retail at Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. Although grocers have fueled much of the retail growth in the region, expansion is occurring in all sectors with the exception of regional malls. In addition, the region's first lifestyle center opened in the northwest suburb of Maple Grove in September. The 411,000 sq. ft. Shoppes at Arbor Lakes is a joint venture between Opus Northwest and Kansas City-based RED Development. Tenants include Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Talbot's and P.F. Chang's. So far, the lifestyle center concept has been hailed as a tremendous success. “Financing is impossible for regional malls. So lifestyle centers are a good way for these stores to expand,” says Murnane. Retail investment sales have been slow during the first half of the year due to the lack of available properties. However, six sizable properties are expected to hit the sale block before year-end, says Scott Pollock, vice president of investment services at United Properties. Cap rates for top-tier grocery-anchored centers are trading slightly above 8%, while unanchored strip centers are trading between 9% and 9.5%. Meanwhile, the on-again, off-again expansion of the Mall of America may be slowed thanks to a court ruling that stripped Simon Property Group of a 27.5% stake in the Bloomington megamall and its managing general partner position. Over the years, Simon has proposed a myriad of options ranging from a futuristic expo center to recent plans for a modest lifestyle center. The decision, which was handed down in September, ended a four-year lawsuit between Simon interests and the Ghermezian family of Canada over control of the 2.8 million sq. ft. shopping center. The Ghermezian-owned Triple Five of Minnesota Inc. had contested Simon's 1999 purchase of a 27.5% interest from co-owner Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. Simon still owns 22.5% of the mall, and plans to appeal the ruling. A Quick Recovery for Multifamily? Apartment vacancy rates have risen amid stagnant job growth and ongoing development. The vacancy rate hit 6.7% in the second quarter, up 1.9% from the 4.8% recorded in the second quarter of 2002, according to GVA Marquette Advisors in Minneapolis. The average rent has increased $5 or 0.5% to $843 in two years. “While we have seen some softening, I think our market will recover quickly due to its diversity and the job growth that is expected,” says Brent Wittenberg, vice president at GVA Marquette Advisors. Although Wittenberg expects vacancies to reach 7% by year-end, he predicts that it will begin to recede by next spring as the economy picks up steam. About 2,400 apartment units are scheduled to come on line this year with another 1,400 units slated for completion in 2004, according to GVA Marquette Advisors. Apartment sales are the most active they have been in a decade. “Buyers believe in this multifamily market long-term despite the fact that we have some softness here that we haven't seen in a while,” Pollock says. Top properties are trading at cap rates in the low- to mid-6% range because investors are underwriting properties with the expectation that the market will recover within two to three years, he adds. Two years ago, quality properties would have sold at cap rates of 7.5% to 8%. The Twin Cities hotel market has struggled mightily in the aftermath of 9-11 and the weak economy. Occupancies have dropped significantly from nearly 70% in 1999 and 2000 to a flat year-to-date occupancy of 59.3% as of July, according to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research. Room rates also have declined. Average daily room rates (ADR) through July registered $80.72, a decline from the $83.22 recorded during the same period in 2002, according to Smith Travel. “These are trying times,” says Stephen Sherf, a senior vice president at GVA Marquette Advisors. “Hotels have continued to drop rates and provide packages. But at the first sign of an uptick, we will see room rates increase.” Beth Mattson-Teig is a Minneapolis-based writer. TWIN CITIES - BY THE NUMBERS 7-County Metro Area: 2.64 million UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.3% University of Minnesota Allina Health System Source: The Business Journal, 2001-2002 Book of Lists METRO AREA STATS 18.4% vacancy, 2Q 2003 15.9% vacancy, 2Q 2002 Rent per sq. ft.: $14.25 2Q 2003 Source: United Properties 6.7% vacancy, 2Q 2003 4.8% vacancy, 2Q 2002 Rent per unit: $843 2Q 2003 Source: GVA Marquette Advisors 5.3% vacancy, 2Q 2003 6.1% vacancy, 2Q 2002 Rent per sq. ft: $61.06 2Q 2003 Source: United Properties 15.9% vacancy, 2Q 2003 14.6% vacancy, 2Q 2002 Rent per sq. ft.: $4.27 2Q 2003 Source: United Properties 59.1% occupancy, YTD as of July 2003 59.3% occupancy, YTD as of July 2002 Source: Smith Travel Research MAJOR PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Heritage Park, a four-phase project featuring 440 rental units, including 200 public housing units; 360 ownership units; and 100 public housing units for the elderly Cost: $225 million Owner: McCormack Baron & Associates Inc. Completion: Completed in phases through 2008 Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, a 411,000 sq. ft. lifestyle center in Maple Grove Cost: $100 million Owner: Opus Northwest LLC Completion: September 2003 Savage Crossings, a 285,000 sq. ft. center in Savage Cost: $32 million Owner: Fairmark Development LP Completion: October 2003 Depot Office Center, a 143,000 sq. ft. office building at the edge of the Minneapolis CBD Cost: $20 million Owner: CSM Corp. Completion: December 2003
View large image The ghd Gold Classic Styler has smoother, golden plates for straighter, sleeker hair, or more voluptuous curls and styling. The ghd Gold Classic Styler has a sleeker design and an improved outer body so that it stays cooler to the touch and is lighter to handle. Gold glimmers through the smooth black plates, which are even more contoured so that they slide through the hair and achieve a high-gloss result. A protective heat guard is included to protect surfaces, and a protective plate guard to protect the plates when you need to transport the Styler. For even more peace of mind, the ghd Gold Classic Styler automatically switches off if not used for 30 minutes. With it’s improved outer body, the ghd Gold Classic styler stays cooler to touch for longer and is lighter to handle. Other features include: Sleek design : allows for better handling for all types of styling Protective plate guard: to safely cover hot plates when you need to style and go. 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Tue Apr 19 08:30:27 BST 2016 by Never used anything so good never been able to afford it so finally saved up for these and WOW!! Amazing I can curl straighten my hair looks amazingley shiny and healthy, Just need to save up for my daughters now and she keeps on taking mine Thank you GHD for a great investment Fri Apr 15 03:51:35 BST 2016 by I have used straighteners for years and with very good protection sprays so my hair is in great condition. So I finally decided to give in to the pressure of joining the ghd gang. I am disappointed but it could be due to this particular item being faulty and not a standard rule for ghd stylers. Every time I have used the styler it catches a strand or so of my hair and pulls it from the root, being caught in the end of the plates. Not only that, the styler smells like it's on fire (electrical fire) and that's when I have hold of it in my hand and not using it on my hair. I also don't think it's any better than my other styler with regards to results, so I guess I find it over priced too. Tue Jun 30 12:02:45 BST 2015 by I bought the GHD styler after hearing many positive comments about it, and maybe I had too high expectations. The styler works on my hair but not so better than the other straightener I used before. Maybe my hair is used to be straightened at higher temperatures, but the straight styling does not last and the next day I have to go over the ghd. However, the good point is that I can use it to make different styles, and maybe the lower temperature will damage less my hair. Thu May 07 08:19:43 BST 2015 by I have used many different brands of hair straighteners over the years and always return to GHDs. They are in my view the best. They heat up quickly and straighten my hair faster and better than any other I have ever used. They are exactly as described on the tin. Mon Apr 06 11:52:57 BST 2015 by Express Delivery Available - If ordered before 9pm, delivered by courier next working day. More Info » If ordered before 9pm, delivered by courier next working day. Available on orders placed before 9pm (2pm weekends and Bank Holidays) for delivery next business day. Applies to most delivery addresses within mainland UK. Please check the stock availability notice on your item when placing your order. This item is: Please remember to add postal time (2-3 working days) to obtain a complete estimate of delivery to your door. You will receive an email to confirm when your item has been sent. You can also check the status of your order and individual items by accessing My Account details and following the prompts. Please allow 10 working days from dispatch of your order before notifying us of any late deliveries. It may be advisable to check with your neighbours to see if a parcel has been left with them, check any outhouses you might have where it may be left if it cannot fit through your letterbox and contact your local sorting office to see if the item has been returned to the depot as undelivered and awaiting collection. Please see our Add to basket In stock Usually dispatched within 24 hours Please Note: We are approved stockists of ghd products. This ghd comes with a 2 year warranty. Faults: Please contact ghd on: 0845 330 1133. This ghd styler comes with a UK three pin plug only. Please see our returns policy. ghd Aura™ Hair Dryer Save £5 on selected ghd stylers ghd Curve Soft Curl Tong (32mm) ghd IV Styler Save £10 on the ghd IV styler ghd Heat Protect Spray ghd Gold Classic Styler
Paul Starr, Practice Leader Hong Kong Dispute Resolution and Infrastructure and James McKenzie, Senior Associate, King & Wood Mallesons, Hong Kong in conversation with Dr Wang Wenying, Secretary General at China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission Hong Kong (CIETAC HK) and Sarah Grimmer, Secretary General at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC). The Belt and Road initiative and Hong Kong When you hear ‘Belt and Road’, what does that conjure up for your institution? Wenying: While the Belt and Road initiative will directly or indirectly affect billions of people across the world and more than 60 countries along the routes, it will also create opportunities to build and grow Hong Kong’s role as a financier and dispute resolution hub for Belt and Road projects. This in turn will create opportunities for dispute resolution service providers in Hong Kong including CIETAC HK, which is usually the institution of choice for parties from China and Belt and Road countries to arbitrate considering its unique features. Hong Kong plays a vital role in the initiative by bridging countries in the Asian region together. The establishment of CIETAC HK is itself a recognition by CIETAC of Hong Kong’s importance to the region. Many sectors in Hong Kong will consequently have a bigger role to play and will benefit from the initiative. That’s true that Hong Kong is a bridge, in fact, the Hong Kong Government has referred to Hong Kong as a ‘super-connector’ for the Belt and Road initiative. What does HKIAC see as being particularly important to this connection? Sarah: Hong Kong’s independent legal system and judiciary, extensive network of professional services in finance, accounting, construction and law, bilingualism, and geographical proximity to China are particularly important. A large proportion of the initiative’s investment will be channelled through Hong Kong, particularly through Hong Kong incorporated vehicles. As a result, Hong Kong is a critical centre for Belt and Road projects. In the legal industry alone, Hong Kong has over 1,000 barristers and 6,700 practicing lawyers. Hong Kong is one of the world’s top arbitration venues (voted the third most preferred venue in the world and first in Asia in a 2015 survey by Queen Mary University of London/White & Case survey). HKIAC, Hong Kong’s flagship institution, as well as other arbitral entities based in Hong Kong, and individuals providing legal and arbitration services, will need to think about how their services are relevant in the Belt and Road context and promote them. In thinking about Hong Kong’s services, what would your institutions say to a Russian or African company that has previously only ever used the English arbitration system but is now involved with a Belt and Road project in which it is considering Hong Kong as a seat? What does Hong Kong have to offer? Sarah: As many of the companies doing business on Belt and Road projects will be dealing with a Chinese counterparty, they should anticipate that the Chinese party may propose that the seat of the arbitration be in China and/or that the governing law is Chinese. Foreign parties should take advice on what it means for an arbitration to be seated in mainland China and/or on the particularities of Chinese law. Foreign parties often prefer Hong Kong as a seat given its modern arbitration legislation and independent legal system and judiciary. Chinese parties are also equally comfortable with Hong Kong as a seat and thus it is a compelling compromise. Companies familiar with the common law and the English arbitration system will find Hong Kong particularly attractive as a seat or governing law when negotiating their arbitration clauses because it is a common-law system largely influenced by English law. With its large pool of legal professionals, independent judiciary (including non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions on its highest court) and state-of-the-art arbitration legislation, Hong Kong is the go-to jurisdiction for parties looking to meet their Chinese counterparties half-way. Russian parties in particular are looking more and more to Asia for business and dispute resolution services due to sanctions in other jurisdictions, we receive regular enquiries from Russian entities about our services. Wenying: Under the principal of One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong, as a Special Administrative Region of China, is supported by the Central Government to maintain its stability, development and prosperity. On the other hand, Hong Kong, under the Basic Law, enjoys independent judicial power including the power of final adjudication. It also continues to be an independent and neutral seat of arbitration to resolve the disputes arising from projects and contracts related to the Belt and Road initiative. Hong Kong is a common law jurisdiction and there are similarities between arbitration practices in Hong Kong and England & Wales. But Hong Kong is at the same time fully capable of embracing parties and practitioners of different legal and cultural backgrounds together to resolve a dispute. Hong Kong also provides great options for parties when choosing arbitrators because a large number of experienced arbitrators reside or work in Hong Kong. Belt and Road and dispute resolution Another layer to this, of course, is that many of the Belt and Road countries contain high levels of legal and political risk. What do you think are some of the advantages and disadvantages of arbitrating Belt and Road disputes versus other dispute resolution methods such as litigation? Sarah: Submitting disputes to arbitration avoids the perils of litigating in jurisdictions where the rule of law is not applied or where the courts are not independent. Given that some of the Belt and Road projects are massive, and involve national interests, removing disputes from local court sphere is critical. Also, one of the greatest advantages of arbitration is the enforceability of awards. Belt and Road disputes will involve Chinese parties which means that enforcement may take place in mainland China against Chinese assets. We know that HKIAC and Hong Kong based awards have a strong enforcement rate in the PRC by virtue of the 1999 Arrangement between Hong Kong and the PRC. Recent studies show that enforcement rates in the PRC are improving, particularly with the reporting up system whereby an award can only be refused enforcement with the endorsement of the Supreme People’s Court. Foreign parties can also take comfort in the fact that the Hong Kong courts have enforced awards against Chinese SOEs. Wenying: I agree that Hong Kong awards have a very strong track record. As the PRC is a signatory to the New York Convention, awards made in Hong Kong can be enforced in more than 150 countries and places under the New York Convention. There is also some harmonisation of arbitration laws along the Belt and Road with more than half of the Belt and Road countries having adopted the UNICTRAL model law in their domestic arbitration laws. The enforcement of Hong Kong seated awards in the PRC is well handled by the ‘Arrangements of the Supreme People’s Court on the Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’. As an example, just recently, on 13 December 2016, the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court of Jiangsu Province enforced a CIETAC HK arbitral award in the PRC, which demonstrates the capability of the PRC courts to enforce Hong Kong awards issued by CIETAC HK. That’s an encouraging development. How important for enforcement and the ability to seek interim relief is it that Belt and Road disputes are seated in ‘pro-arbitration’ jurisdictions such as Hong Kong? Wenying: In the PRC arbitration law, for example, interim relief cannot be made by the arbitral tribunal. In Hong Kong, the Arbitration Ordinance provides not only for court based relief in support of arbitration but that the arbitral tribunal can grant interim measures to protect the parties’ urgent interest when needed. Interim relief is very important because, firstly, it may assist with enforcing the award capable of being enforced at the end when the winning party gets the award so the award is not just on paper. Secondly, it may help to resolve disputes more efficiently since it may facilitate the disputants to discuss settlement. Hong Kong is a well-known pro-arbitration jurisdiction with all the usual advantages in seeking interim relief and enforcing an order on interim relief rendered by an arbitral tribunal. Given the operational and credit risks associated with many of the Belt and Road countries, what do you perceive to be some of the key considerations for investors in structuring their investment vehicle or drafting dispute resolution clauses? Sarah: Investors should opt for arbitration rather than the submission of disputes to local courts. Investors should ensure that arbitration clauses across multiple instruments relating to a particular project are compatible. Parties should use compatible model clauses and may consider adopting an umbrella dispute resolution clause that applies to all related contracts. Another important dimension we are now advising our clients on is investment treaty rights. What consideration should be made of these potential rights when investors are structuring their Belt and Road investments? Sarah: Investors and host States should know which bilateral and/or multilateral investment treaties apply to their investment and decide how to structure their investment in order to attract treaty protection. This should happen prior to a dispute arising. This will include an assessment of whether the provisions of other treaties can be accessed through the application of most-favoured nations clauses. Investment treaties often contain dispute resolution clauses referring investor state disputes to arbitration under, inter alia, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. HKIAC has already hosted multiple investor-state arbitrations and has administered arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules since 1986 under its own separate procedural guidelines. Furthermore, HKIAC has a tribunal secretary service which is particularly useful in large, complex cases (which investor state arbitrations very often are). HKIAC also recently launched a “free hearing space” initiative, offering parties in an HKIAC-administered arbitration involving a State listed on the OECD list of development assistance (which 70% of Belt and Road jurisdictions are) access to HKIAC’s hearing facilities free of charge. For some parties, the cost savings on hearing facilities will be a factor towards them choosing HKIAC and Hong Kong. Wenying: For protection under an investment treaty, the person or company making the investment must qualify as an ‘investor’. Most treaties define ‘investor’ as either a natural person or a company having the nationality of the home State. The definition may differ between each bilateral and multilateral investment treaty and investors should always check the exact requirements under the relevant treaty. Although the method used to determine whether a company or person is ‘foreign’ varies across investment treaties, the party seeking to utilise the investment treaty must demonstrate that it is a national of one of the countries that is signatory to the treaty. Belt and Road and CIETAC HK / HKIAC What is being done to encourage use of your centres in disputes involving the Belt and Road Initiative? Sarah: In 2017 and beyond, HKIAC will be playing a very active role in the Belt and Road initiative. We are planning to visit many Belt and Road jurisdictions this year, with the aim of educating local contracting parties about the key issues they need to know when undertaking a Belt and Road project. For example, what does a party need to know when concluding a construction contract funded by a Chinese SOE? Or one that may also involve a Chinese entity contracted in production capacity? What does a party need to know when its project is funded by a Chinese finance institution, whether that be an infrastructure bank, private equity firm or sovereign wealth fund? These are some of the practical considerations that parties need to take into account when embarking on Belt and Road projects. Because of the very nature of Belt and Road projects, the disputes that emanate from them will often involve multiple contracts as well as multiple parties, including public entities, private equity funds, and SOEs both from within and without Belt and Road jurisdictions. The deals are major infrastructure projects which may involve high-stake disputes with a significant political element. The 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (the “Rules”) are designed to deal with multi-party and multi-contract scenarios, such as those arising in Belt and Road disputes – specifically, our Rules allow for consolidation, joinder and commencement of a single arbitration under multiple contracts, and default appointment options. Our Rules also contain provisions allowing for expedited proceedings, emergency arbitrator proceedings and a choice of method for determining the tribunal’s fees which can save costs. To assist tribunals in handling large disputes, HKIAC also offers a tribunal secretary service from among the members of our multilingual Secretariat. They have experience in both commercial and investment arbitration and can work in English and/or Mandarin. HKIAC has recently released statistics on the average duration and costs of its proceedings which demonstrate that it leads among the other major international arbitral institutions on both of these heads. HKIAC also has a deep pool of qualified and bilingual English/Mandarin arbitrators from which parties and the institution can appoint. Wenying: CIETAC HK currently uses the CIETAC Arbitration Rules 2015 to administer its cases. The Rules are a happy marriage between the Chinese and the international practice of arbitration, which perfectly suits the potential commercial disputes among companies from the Belt and Road initiative. We have witnessed a convergence of arbitration rules among different institutions as they have developed over the past few years. However, there can be some distinctive features in practice among institutions, for example, mediation, scrutiny of awards and case manager systems. CIETAC HK has gained a reputation of maintaining a relatively more efficient arbitration. Its average time for rendering an award in 2015 was 115 days from the date the arbitrators are appointed. CIETAC will update its pool of arbitrators this May thereby enhancing its capacity in resolving Belt and Road disputes by increasing Belt and Road related arbitrators. What role do you see your respective centres playing in providing hearing facilities? Sarah: HKIAC offers modern hearing facilities in the heart of Hong Kong’s central business district. Its premises were voted the best in the world for location, value for money, helpfulness of staff and IT services in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, HKIAC offers free hearing space for proceedings administered by HKIAC where at least one party is a State listed on the OECD DAC List of ODA assistance. Wenying: CIETAC has a great network around the globe which allows us to provide hearing facilities readily available in China and at a great number of jurisdictions. CIETAC HK has adequate hearing facilities and caters to cross-border hearings on a regular basis. CIETAC HK will move to the Legal Hub, a wonderful initiative by the Department of Justice, in two years, which is exciting news that we wish to share. For the traditional commercial arbitration cases that CIETAC HK carries out, if we look at CIETAC’s Fee Schedule, we can easily draw the conclusion that CIETAC is one of the very few international arbitration institutions that puts no additional burden on the parties for hearing facility costs. We have talked a bit about the role investors play in choice of seat and arbitral institution. Another important party are “funders”. What role do your institutions see funders as playing in choice of dispute resolution clauses and what are your centres doing in terms of outreach to funding bodies? Sarah: Third party funders’ primary concern is making returns in proceedings either through an award or settlement agreement. Effective enforcement of an eventual award is therefore critical, and choosing experienced arbitrators and institutions with modern rules goes a long way towards ensuring a valid and enforceable award. We work closely with third party funders in terms of mutual involvement in events and educating users. We also formed a special taskforce to consult with the Hong Kong SAR government on legislative reform as it concerns third party funding in Hong Kong. Wenying: Yes, absolutely, and we are spending a lot of time in China talking to those groups. We recognise that as the parties providing the funds they have a lot of say in what dispute resolution clauses go into contracts. What is being done by your centres to liaise with these organisations and encourage the choice of your centres and Hong Kong as a seat? Sarah: We promote our work to Chinese SOEs both in the PRC and in Hong Kong. For example, in the week before Christmas, we hosted three large delegations of Chinese SOEs and arbitral centres in Hong Kong. In the PRC, HKIAC staff often meet with contractors and funders to understand their positions in different transactions and to promote the use of HKIAC’s Rules and services. We have also implemented Belt and Road seminars in Hong Kong and held Belt and Road roadshows in relevant jurisdictions that are recipients of outbound Chinese investment. Wenying: We will have tailor-made events for investors on commercial arbitration, intellectual property disputes, construction dispute etc., including but not limited to seminars, mock arbitrations and negotiation workshops. We also work with chambers of commerce, governments, and institutes of arbitrators to communicate with arbitration users along the Belt and Road countries on the possibility of arbitration in Hong Kong. Given all the talk about funding, it seems germane to talk about the pending third party funding reforms to the Arbitration Ordinance. What do your centres think the effect of the reform will be on Belt and Road arbitrations? Sarah: The legislative reforms will bring Hong Kong into line with other major jurisdictions in terms of third party funding being available in arbitration. This is a positive development and makes Hong Kong more attractive as an arbitral seat. Some parties (whether these are impecunious parties or sophisticated entities using third party funding as a means of capital and liquidity management) may not wish to fund their disputes in the classical way, so third party funding arrangements are an interesting alternative. Wenying: The Hong Kong Government has a long-standing policy of promoting Hong Kong as a leading centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia Pacific region. In recent years, third party funding of arbitration has become increasingly common in various jurisdictions. The pending amendments to the Arbitration Ordinance to allow third party funding in arbitration and mediation proceedings is good news for dispute resolution services in Hong Kong. Third party funding will provide more options for parties initiating their arbitration case. CIETAC HK, with the help of its Working Group Members, has drafted guidelines to assist parties and arbitrators to be informed when considering using funding in their arbitrations. Finally, what do you both see as the future of CIETAC HK’s and HKIAC’s involvement in Belt and Road? Wenying: Before the Belt and Road, CIETAC HK was already the choice for resolving China related cross border commercial disputes. With the increasing volume of investment and trade, CIETAC HK will play a crucial role to resolve disputes arising from both. Sarah: In 2017 and beyond, the Belt and Road initiative will constitute a significant part of HKIAC’s outreach and capacity work. As I mentioned, HKIAC has designed a roadshow for Belt and Road jurisdictions and has held that in the Philippines. We will also visit Mongolia and other jurisdictions this year. We are excited about promoting Hong Kong for Belt and Road disputes.
by Lucy Sung, c/o 2018 \|Team South India: Lucy, Nancy, Jason, and Melanie\| It can be a lot to juggle. But the best way to continue your day while you rub your sore shoulders and resist snacking on more Cheez-its, is to remind yourself that medical school is training. We are training for the best job (IMHO) in the world. We are always told that becoming a physician is a privilege. We are reminded so much that sometimes, the word - privilege - ceases to hold meaning. This is why I love traveling. It is always about discovering and challenging yourself to adapt to any environment. In other words, increasing your resiliency. There are two parts that I always look forward to when traveling: Part 1. Going to the new place. Part 2. After being at the new place for some time, going back home. \|Outside Omani General Hospital, the oldest hospital in India.\| In the first part - Going to the new place - the experience of plucking yourself out of your environment and being plopped into a new one is a privilege in itself. Not everyone has the courage, the finances, and the time, to leave their responsibilities behind at home, and go forth and do something just for themselves. When I leave the airplane at my new destination, I feel nothing but relief. Relief because I have a slight fear of planes, but also because now it is time where I can focus on myself and prepare to learn something new about the people around me and about myself. This is why I believe that traveling is a great and useful tool for medical students. We will learn by experience during our clinical years how to adapt to the hospital, but that is limited to bedside manners and how to bite your tongue at bully attendings. For our own personal development, traveling teaches you resilience by demonstration of the people that you meet and putting you in stressful situations that cannot be escaped by closing the door. You learn to confront, culturally appropriately of course, and how to share ideas and communicate without words. One of the fondest pastimes when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda was sitting with my neighbors in the late afternoon chatting about life, cows, and the future. But often, we sat in silence and enjoyed each other company while we watched the cows graze. When I was at a market place in Zanzibar, a Muslim grandma slapped my face and walked away because I was showing my shoulders. Did I want to yell and show my anger? Of course. But is that really going to solve anything? Probably not. Although it is not a fond memory, it reminds me that I am still a guest in another person's home, their country, their culture. Lesson from Traveling #1: Increase your ability to walk in other people's shoes and learn empathy. After the devastating earthquake in Nepal, the team was disbanded on grounds of safety. Melanie, through some kind of magic, established contact with the oldest hospital in India and invited classmates to join her and her family in Hyderabad, India. In the middle of finals, myself and 2 other students quickly decided to join Melanie and we soon found ourselves with tickets and visas to India. \|The team with Dr. Ramesh in surgery\| \|Tuberculosis is very common!\| \|Jason examining a patient with upper lobar pneumonia\| \|The magnificent alcove of Osmania General Hospital\| \|Medical Ward, patients either waiting or recovering from surgery\| Our days consisted of either surgeries, receiving lessons and being pimped by doctors in general surgery or medicine, but with special permission and a few phone calls, we had the opportunity to exam three patients with leprosy. In a slightly offensive and stereotypical way, I had imagined leprosy to be like the images I had been exposed to of leper colonies. Bandages and isolation, is what the unknowing person like myself imagined. We had a short lesson on leprosy during our immunology course -- TH1 and TH2 imbalances, tuberculoid, lepromatous, and other words that had become a scramble in our brains. \|From Princess Mononoke, how I thought leprosy looked like\| After getting lost a few times, getting turned away twice, and then eventually talking our way into meeting some patients, we finally had permission to learn about this disease that is not found in the USA. In immunology, we learned that there are two types of leprosy: tuberculoid (non contagious) and lepromatous (contagious). There are actually FIVE types of leprosy that is along the spectrum of the disease. In order of increasing severity: - Tuberculoid leprosy (TL) -- strong immune response - Borderline tuberculoid (BT) - Borderline borderling (BB) - Borderline lepromatous (BL) - Lepromatous leprosy (LL) -- poor immune response Patients who live in endemic regions and presenting with hypopigmentation patches and loss of sensory dermatones at the patches should be considered for leprosy. \|A and her father with the team\| We first met A and her father. A is 13 years old and the cutest, nicest teenager I have ever met. Why can't the teenagers in my life be as polite as her? Last year, she fell down while playing and banged her elbow into the ground. She noticed that the wound turned black and she could not feel any touch, pain, or temperature at the site of the healing lesion. Soon, she noticed patches of lighter skin spreading with the same characteristics of loss of touch and pain. \|New hypopigmentation on the dorsum of her right hand. \| Her nails are orange because of henna, a common way to get colored nails in cultures that use it. A is a typical teenager :) She and her father visited the local doctor, who then sent them to Osmania General Hospital for treatment for Borderline tuberculoid leprosy. Her treatment includes going to her village's health center to take rifampin under supervision and documented and taking a dose of dapsone daily for 1 year. WHO provides medicine sachets free of charge. \|Free of charge by the WHO\| \|Leprosy treatment sachets, one per month. Rifampin once a month and dapsone daily x 24 months.\| MDT = multidrug therapy A and her father must take a 3 hour bus ride to Osmania General Hospital for follow up and laboratory, every 2 months, for the past year. It is a great time commitment, but A and her father were sweet and answered every question we had, even encouraging us to exam her patches. Dr. Aradya B. also demonstrated how to conduct a physical exam with a new patient with a possible leprosy diagnosis. In the video below, our patient also has a non-healing ulcer on his foot, a common occurrence because the lack of sensation on the plantar side of feet does not alert the person to sharp objects, burns, or other kinds of trauma. Key aspects for the physical exam: - Note the number and distribution of skin lesions, the borders, and hypopigmentations. - Assess neuropathies -- test areas for hypoesthesia such as touch, pinprick, vibrations, temperature, and anhidrosis. This was a great review of the main nerves of the body. - Sensory loss is most common, but motor loss and and tenderness can also be found. It is essential to do detect all possible nerve damage. \|Note edema, non-healing ulcer, and adenopathy\| Lesson from Traveling #2: Talk to people, especially the locals. You'l learn so much more. The second part -- After some time in a new place, going back home -- is also a welcomed relief. Ready to escape the devastating India summer heat that resulted in over 2000 heat wave related deaths in our region. Ready to go back home and see family and friends. Ready to get a pedicure because my heels are just plain nasty. Our next stop is Nepal where we will be meeting with our community partners to conduct health camps, and where I plan on helping to rejuvenate Nepal's tourism economy by buying all the souvenirs. \|It was over 115F every day...\| STEP 1 Recall: - Leprosy is an infection caused by bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. - Acid fast, obligate intracellular bacteria, thin rods - Transmission is from nasal discharge contact - Two types that we must know: - Tuberculoid leprosy: strong immune response that causes a granuloma formation. Characterized by a TH1-type immune response - Lepromatous leprosy: the immune system is weak and diffuse inflammatory damage occurs. There is low cell-mediated immunity, characterized by a TH2-type immune response. - Dx: PCR or skin/nerve biopsy - Tx: TL type: dapsone and rifampin x 6mo. LL type: dapsone, rifampin, and clofazimine x24 mons.
The Montessori curriculum is used as the basic philosophical framework for Montessori Morning Glory School. It’s a life philosophy that can be hard to grasp in only a cursory glance, but the basic academic equipment used to develop academic achievement of Montessori children is a little easier to understand. Specific equipment and its objective is described in our series of “lesson descriptions”. If you’re interested in more information, check out our reading list. Our enrichment curriculum is superimposed on the standard Montessori curriculum. These programs vary through the year and include art activities, cooking and science classes, creative dramatic and music instruction, and dance and motor development programs. Our motor development program stresses cardiovascular fitness, strength, stamina, flexibility, and coordination. We cycle safety, manners, and ecological instruction through each month. One of the most amazing things about our program each year as we come to a repeat of the topic is how many children remember what they learned a year ago. That’s amazing for a 4-year-old. We’ve come to expect it for our 5-year-olds. The dressing frames are a series of small picture frames with fabric on which has been mounted the various ways we connect our clothes. One frame has a jacket zipper, another buttons, another shoe buckles, another snaps, and another bows. By placing this work on a table with large, easy-to-use parts, the child is able to perfect the skills needed to dress himself. In the frame for bow tying, each side of the lace to be tied is a different color so that the child can see clearly what he is doing. He can practice as long as he wishes to reinforce his self-confidence in caring for himself. Attention is focused on this matter most important to the child and manual dexterity is improved as the child perfects himself. At home, allow your child lots of time to dress himself. Show him very slowly how to perform the various tasks in dressing himself. When he has difficulty or becomes frustrated, encourage him as you offer your help. Use words like “That’s a really hard zipper to get started”, ”Buttons give me a hard time, too”, or “You got your socks on really fast this morning.” Carrying is a critical lesson in the child’s education. Whether he carries a chair, a tray with materials, or a large piece of equipment where he must have the help of a friend, he is taught how to move carefully and quietly through his environment. The most important lesson is how to set the equipment down quietly. Even when a glass pitcher on a glass tray is set on the shelf, the object is to do it with no sound. It takes a lot of concentration for the young child to carry material on a tray without spilling, without bumping, and without making any noise. Allow your child to walk slowly and carefully. Praise him when he walks without bumping or when a toy is laid down carefully. Practice yourself walking slowly and talking softly. You are your child’s most important role model. He wants to do everything just the way you do it. Soft voices and relaxed body movements make the environment a nice place to be. The child uses sharp scissors such as embroidery scissors to cut first simple lines and then more complex shapes. He is taught how to pass the scissors and how to carry them. He is never allowed to misuse the equipment. The motor development involved in using scissors is quite difficult for the young child and he is delighted when he masters this most common tool. As soon as the child masters cutting card stock, he is taught to cut paper, and then thread. At home, provide your child with good scissors. Children’s scissors are usually difficult for adults to use. They can be particularly frustrating for a child who is just learning to cut. Show your child where to work, what to cut, and how to clean up. This establishes your rules for using the scissors. If the rules are not followed, do not allow yourself to feel angry or guilty about putting the scissors away for another time. When the child is shown how to cut food, he is also provided with excellent tools and is taught how to use them correctly. A paring knife and a cutting board are provided. If the food is to be peeled or grated, these tools are also included. A small bowl for washing the food, a bowl to serve the food, and a container for waste material are provided as appropriate. Each step is demonstrated carefully and slowly. All the tools and parts of the food being prepared are named. Cleanup is an important part of this work. At home, your child will be able to prepare many more foods than you might be willing to let him prepare. Allow him to contribute to the family in this way. Give him excellent tools to use and demonstrate what your expectations are. Then allow the child a lot of time. His purpose in preparing food is the process of cutting or stirring or spreading. It is not the end product of having food for the family meal. Arrange your schedule so that there is adequate time without having to rush. Practical life exercises are the foundation of the Montessori classroom. All other areas flow directly from this base. One of the most fundamental exercises of practical life is table washing. Its purposes are three-fold. First, it helps the child to feel secure and at ease in her surroundings. Young children even before they enter the classroom have a compelling desire to know about and participate in the environment in which they live. If she sees her mother dusting and vacuuming, she wants to dust and vacuum also. If she sees her father mowing the grass or shaving, the child also imitates these activities. Some mysterious inner drive moves her to become a purposeful member of the society into which she was born. Table washing offers the child an opportunity to be purposeful, to participate meaningfully in her environment. The table is dirty; “I can make it clean.” It allows her independence. Having accomplished a meaningful task independently, the child feels good about herself, capable and at ease with how things are done in this world. The second purpose of table washing is to offer the child possibility for gross and fine movement that can be refined. Pouring water without spilling, scrubbing large and small areas of the table, getting the soap off, drying the table, discarding the dirty water, and refolding the floor cloth gives the child many opportunities to perfect her motor skills. This refined motor control is a direct preparation for the more advanced work of the classroom. The third purpose of table washing is to develop the ability to concentrate. Beginning exercises of practical life are simple and call for short periods of concentration. There is a gradual buildup in complexity of tasks which call the child to longer periods of intense effort. Table washing is a very complex task, setting the tools out in a precise order, step-by-step washing, rinsing and drying the table, and cleaning up and replacing the material. This ability to carry out such a complex task with skill, attention to detail, and concentrated effort prepares the child directly for advanced work in the classroom. Each task not only meets the developmental needs of the child, but it also prepares her for a more complex task that lies ahead. Having been prepared, the child meets with many successes in her growth towards maturity. These successes in turn leave her with a healthy self-esteem and a feeling of accomplishment. The equipment consists of a small tray with two pitchers. One is approximately half full of rice, beans, or water. The dry ingredients are used when the lesson is first introduced. Liquid is used as the child advances. The purpose of this work is to develop eye/hand coordination necessary for pouring, to teach the child how to work neatly, and to teach self-reliance in cleaning up after himself. There are several extensions. The liquid may be poured through a tiny funnel or two different sizes or shapes of pitchers may be used to teach the child that volumes don’t change even though the shape may change. Opaque pitchers may be used to allow the child to focus only on the pouring or one large pitcher may be used to pour into several small glasses to teach the child to stop pouring before the glass overflows. The child is taught names of all parts of this work; handle, spout, drop, and funnel. At home, you can allow your child to pour. Be sure that the pitcher is not too heavy for him and that the working space is at the correct height. Give him the materials he will need to clean up any spills. Do not hover about the child as he works. He will be most delighted if he is allowed to pour drinks for the family or for his friends. The child is taught to wash his hands, a table top, cloths, and how to mop. When the lessons are presented, each step is presented in exactly the same sequence. If a child forgets how to complete the lesson, it is presented again in exactly the same way. These are long lessons. Hand washing has 59 individual steps. Amazingly, the child will follow most of them with few reminders. He is shown how to assemble all the material before he begins. Each tool is sized to allow him to handle it easily. Buckets to carry water are not so big that he cannot carry them. Sinks are at his height. Cloths are small enough for his hands to wring out and soap is a size that fits nicely into his palm. Each piece of the material is named for him as it is presented. After the lesson, the child is shown how to replace all the equipment so that it is ready to be used again. Fresh towels are put out, each tray and table top is dried, and dirty cloths are put in the basket to be laundered. These lessons have many objectives. The length of the lessons increase the child’s attention span and teach sequence of activities. The child comes into control of his muscles. He learns independence, responsibility, and self esteem by being able to contribute to the care of his environment. At home, allow your child to work with water. Children love to help and to make their environment beautiful. Demonstrate what your expectations are and then allow the child to do it. An important part of this lesson is the cleanup. If the cleanup really is not acceptable to you, show the child again how to do it better. Patience and tolerance here are virtues. Encouragement for how hard he worked, for how much drier the floor is this time, and for how happily he worked will motivate your child to want to work with you more The geometric cabinet is designed to develop visual and muscular discrimination of shape, training the eye to understand the form. The cabinet itself is wooden with six drawers. Each drawer has six wooden squares. Each wooden square has a figure cut out, with a knob in the center by which to hold the insert. When the cut-out figure is lifted, the blue background of the drawer shows the shape of the cutout. The first drawer has six circles, varying in diameter from 5 to 10 cm. The second drawer has six variations of rectangles, beginning with a square, each smaller than the preceding one. The third drawer has six different types of triangles. The fourth drawer has six different kinds of regular polygons. The fifth and sixth drawers have different shapes, such as oval, ellipse, quatrefoil, trapezoid, right-angle trapezoid, rhombus, and parallelogram. There is also a demonstration tray with a circle, triangle, and square, the remaining squares being filled in with plain squares of wood. The child begins this exercise by gently removing a shape from the tray. He then traces the shape by starting at the lower left corner and running the first two fingers of his right hand around the outline. He then traces the frame with the same two fingers clockwise. He continues this procedure until all shapes have been traced and replaced. The child gradually learns to place the shapes on a solid form on a card, then on a thickly lined form on a card, then on a thinly lined form on a card, which is a precursor of writing. As the child grows older, he explores all of his environment at a progressively more refined level. The geometric cabinet provides for this with variations and extensions. The child may use combinations of two or more drawers or he can play matching games at a distance. The child also proceeds naturally to the metal insets, to holding a pencil, and then to actually writing. Long Rods or Red Rods The long rods are a series of ten rods 2 centimeters square but varying in length from 10 centimeters to 1 meter long. They are arranged on a mat with the longest rod at the top and carefully aligned on the left side. The purpose of this exercise is to isolate the dimension of length and to prepare the child for the math exercise of the number rods. Extensions of this lesson include creating a spiral with the longest rod still along the top edge of a mat on the floor. The child may then walk ever so carefully into and out of the spiral. Language development is “long/short”, “long/longer/longest”, and “short/shorter/shortest”. At home, you can reinforce this lesson by observing varying lengths of pencils, spaghetti, hair, etc. Broad Stair or Brown Stair The broad stair is a series of ten wooden prisms 20 centimeters square down to 1 centimeter square. Sometimes they are painted brown and are called the brown stair. They are arranged on a mat to form a stair, beginning with the largest on the left and progressing to the smallest on the right. The purpose of the material is the visual and kinesthetic perception of thickness, to prepare the mind for mathematics by promoting the concept of volume, and to develop eye/hand coordination. Extensions of this lesson include stacking the prisms and corresponding the pink tower with the broad stair, laying them horizontally alongside each other. Language development for this exercise is “thick/thin”, “thick/thicker/thickest”, and “thin/thinner/thinnest”. At home, gradations of thickness may be observed using books, pasta (before and after cooking), paper, or fabric. The cylinder blocks is a series of four smooth, wooden blocks with ten knobbed cylinders in a row along the top. The cylinders vary regularly by height or diameter or both. The first block increases by both diameter and height, progressing from short and thin to tall and thick. The second block increases by diameter only. The third block increases in height but decreases in diameter so that its progression is from short and thick to tall and thin. The fourth block varies by height only. The child is shown how to remove the cylinders carefully, using only the fingertips. This pincer movement is the same one he will eventually use to grasp a pencil. He learns concentration as he focuses his attention on just this one task. The very young child might at first use both hands to remove and replace the cylinders since the blocks are a long reach for his short arms. But eventually he will learn to reach across his body with his dominant hand to the opposite end of the block. This reaching across his body is an important development in laterality for the child, somewhat similar to learning to pattern when a child learns to crawl. As the child continues this work, his visual perception and visual memory are enhanced. Eventually the child will be able to merely look at a cylinder from any one of the blocks and place it in its correct position. Extensions of this material include working with two blocks simultaneously, then three, then all four. When the child’s visual perception has progressed to this level, then he may be blindfolded and taught to use his tactile sense to place the cylinders. Language development here is the comparison between “thick/thicker/thickest”, “short/shorter/shortest”, “thin/thinner/thinnest”, and “tall/taller/tallest”. Descriptions such as “tall and thick” and “short and thin” may also be used. At home, allow your child to concentrate as he maneuvers a rod into a jar or attempts to fit a shape into a slot in a shape sorter. Sometimes as adults, we shorten our children’s attention spans by well-intentioned advice or assistance. When we help where help is not needed or wanted, we unconsciously send the message that our child is not capable and we can frustrate his attempts at independence. Always wait until the child verbally asks for assistance. Even the youngest toddler can be taught to say “help”. The knobless cylinders are four boxes of ten cylinders. Each set of box and cylinders is colored. These cylinders vary by height and diameter in the same way that the cylinder blocks varies. The yellow cylinders increase by both height and diameter. The red cylinders increase by diameter only. The green cylinders increase by height while they decrease by diameter. The blue cylinders increase by height only. The first presentation of this material is to arrange the cylinders from one box in a row decreasing by thickness. The child may then be shown how to stack the cylinders. Stacking the cylinders is quite difficult and requires excellent eye/hand coordination and fine motor development. The child must focus intently on his task and a long attention span is developed. Eventually, he will be shown how to use two or three sets together to create wonderful designs in rising and falling patterns of color. Language development here is for the relationships between “thick/thicker/thickest”, “short/shorter/shortest”, “thin/thinner/thinnest”, and “tall/taller/tallest”. At home, encourage your child to arrange things in ascending and descending order. As you travel about, observe how a building is created with descending sized cubes or how an ice cream cone has descending pods. The stereognostic bag is a cloth bag approximately 7”x 9” with an opening on one side. Four or five objects familiar to the child are placed in the bag. He is shown how to place his hand in the bag and to identify an object without looking at it. He may then remove the object from the bag for all to see. The purpose of this game is to reinforce the muscle memory of shape. It develops mental vision and necessitates thinking. Because the child is conscious of “thinking” in the game, his awareness of how to think is increased. A certain amount of self control is also developed because the child must prevent himself from peeking before he guesses. At home, you can encourage your child in various thinking processes. Take him through a step-by-step analysis of a question you think he can figure out for himself. Help him to apply something he already knows to a new question. Or play foolish “what if?” games to stimulate creativity. Blindfold and guessing games are tremendous fun for the child when his parent joins in. Equipment for this exercise is a small wooden box with two compartments. In one side are red wooden numbers from 1 to 10. In the other side are red plastic disks called counters. The child is shown how to space the numbers out in a row across the top of his workspace. The counters are laid out under the numbers in two vertical columns. Therefore, the 1 has one counter under it, slightly to the left. The 2 has two counters under it, one in each of the two columns. The 3 has three counters, two in the left column and one in the right column. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the child to the concept of odd and even numbers, to having 1 left over, and to the concept of counting by some number other than 1, in this case by 2’s. These concepts will be used again and again as binary systems, set theory, and division and multiplication are introduced. At this age, the child is enjoying laying the numbers and counters in orderly rows. Eye/hand coordination and counting are reinforced. At home, enjoy letting your child lay things out in orderly fashion, such as setting the table, arranging books on a table, or lining up his toys on the shelf. Golden Bead Material The golden bead material is the introduction to our decimal system. A single bead represents the unit. A strand of ten beads on a wire is a ten bar. Ten of the ten bars fastened together to form a square make a hundred square. The hundred squares form a cube of 1000. These terms ‘square’ and ‘cube’ are familiar already from the sensorial material. The first lessons with this material are simple. The children build quantities with the bead material. The teacher illustrates how much easier it is to work with a ten bar than with ten individual beads. Soon the child can combine different numbers of sets, such as 2 thousands, 7 hundreds, 2 tens, and 3 units. Eventually, the children enjoy accumulating large quantities on a tray. They learn to represent these quantities with corresponding cards. When the cards are stacked, the number is shown as 2723. The bank game is an exercise in exchanging the beads. The large quantity of material which the children use as a source for the game is called the bank. The children use the bank whenever they want to change units to tens, tens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands, or vice versa. Adding and subtracting four place numbers can all be done with the golden beads. If two children wish to add, each one puts a quantity of bead material on a tray and selects the corresponding cards to represent the quantity. They then select large cards to represent their total. For subtraction, the teacher places a large quantity of bead material with the corresponding large cards on a large tray. She then gives the child a smaller tray with a number written on a small card. The child ‘takes away’ this quantity of bead material from the large tray and puts it with the small cards. The quantity remaining on the large tray is the answer. The child then finds the number cards to represent the answer. With this game, the children gain a real impression that subtraction is the breaking up on one large number into smaller ones. At home, you may see your child delight in very large numbers. Share with him how many times MacDonald’s hamburgers go around the earth or how heavy a pickup truck is. Our world is full of mathematical concepts that the child is eager to explore. When the child has mastered the bead stair, he is introduced to the bead cabinet. The beads are in the same colors (the 1 bead is red, the 2 beads are green, the 3 bar is pink, etc.) but they present the concepts of squared, cubed, set theory, and skip counting. The beads in the cabinet are arranged in squares of each number, cubes of each number, and bars chained together to equal the number in the cube. The child is shown how to take small plastic pointers and count by 2’s or 3’s or 6’s. He may also learn the squares and cubes of the numbers 1 through 10. The thousand chain is a particularly fun exercise. It reaches 27 feet and generally takes up a large part of floor space. The child is impressed with the size of 1000. There is a great deal of self-esteem involved in completing this long exercise. Counting by 10’s to 1000 and writing the numbers in a book is a big job for a 5 or 6 year old. It is not a task an adult would set for such a young child. But he chooses to do it himself with great joy. At home, validate your child’s interest in numbers by listening and responding to his stories. Share mathematical concepts by pointing out cubes, squares, and sets. If you enjoy fun games with numbers, by all means share them now with your child. As your child begins to approach the time when abstract concepts appeal to him (around 6), introduce ideas about eternity, light years, and space. When the child has developed a good concept of teens and how tens progress, he is introduced to the hundred board. This is a blue board marked off into10 rows of ten. Small white markers in the shape and size of the marked off squares on the board have numbers from 1 to 100. The child is shown how to place the numbers correctly on the board. He is delighted with the orderliness of counting by tens down the right side of the board and of how all the 2’s and 6’s and 9’s line up under each other. He is shown how to write the numbers to take home for himself. As his confidence with numbers increases, he has no fear of moving into addition and subtraction, even of large numbers, for after all, hasn’t he written all the numbers up to 100? The language development is the ability to count to l00 without saying ‘twenty-ten’, ‘twenty-eleven’, ‘twenty-twelve’. At home, have patience with telling your child for the fourth time what comes after 59. Delight with him in the wonderful expansion of his knowledge and thrill with him at the largeness of 53 or the great old age of 87. Help him understand the relativity between his brother’s 8 birthday candles and his father’s 33 candles or between 3 miles to school and 67 miles to the beach. The mathematic operations are taught using beads and strip boards. The strip boards look like large game boards. Red and blue rulers of graduated lengths represent quantities from 1 through 9. These are laid along the base board and the child quickly sees what the result of addition or subtraction is (depending on the board used). He may then transfer the concrete form to his number book, so that he can begin to understand numbers at the abstract level. The most successful use of this material is to get the child to the point where he no longer needs it. It is a significant maturity level for the child to become independent of the equipment. Sometimes parents become excited that their child is adding and subtracting four-digit numbers and carrying tens. At the beginning, however, the child is still dependent on the equipment and cannot duplicate his efforts at home. Take care to be gentle with his new-found ability. Be aware that you do not put him in a position where he must fail. The best way to know how to help your child is to follow his lead. Let him show you what his interests are. There are two sets of Seguin boards, named after Carl Seguin, a contemporary of Maria Montessori and a noted educator. There is the ‘teen’ board, which is a board with nine slots painted with 1 and 0 in the background. There are nine plaques painted with the numbers 1 through 9 to slide into the slots and create the numbers from 11 to 19. The child is shown how to lay a golden bead ten bar on the left side of the board to correspond to the ten place and to lay unit beads beside the board to correspond to the number to be slid into the slot. For example, the child forms 11 by sliding a 1 into the top slot over the 0. This is a concrete illustration that 11 consists of 1 ten and 1 unit. With the ten board, the child can create two digit numbers from 21 through 99. There is a great deal of language introduced with these boards. The child learns to concretely demonstrate numbers up to 20 and to count properly to 99. (There is no ‘twenty-ten’, for example.) He learns to associate such large numbers with concrete materials. The logic and beauty of numbers begins to form in the child’s mind. He may also begin to delight in counting verbally to 99 or in singing nonsensical songs that count to 99. Have patience. You probably will not go insane before this stage passes. How to Make Sounds \|a as in apple b as in bird c as in cat d as in doll e as in elf f as in feather g as in goose h as in hat i as in igloo j as in jug k as in kite l as in lock m as in mittens \|n as in net o as in ostrich p as in pumpkin q as in quarter r as in ring s as in seven t as in teepee u as in umpire v as in violin w as in watermelon x as in box y as in yellow z as in zebra In the Montessori environment,writing nearly always precedes reading. But this writing is not constrained by the child’s motor control over a pencil. It is instead done with a set of wooden letters by which the child can say the sounds and lay out the correct wooden letters. With small objects to guide his efforts, the child can first say the name of the object very slowly so he can hear each sound ”p–i–g”. He then selects the letter for the first sound and lays it on the mat beside the object. Then he picks the letter for the second sound and lays it to the right of the first letter. This construction of words may continue for a long time. It may even progress to sentences or stories. In addition to the objects, there are many sets of labels in the classroom to serve as guides in constructing words. At a time when the child becomes proficient with forming letters with a pencil, the teacher may show the child how to write with a pencil the same words he has constructed with wooden letters. The important point is that the child’s intelligence is not constrained by his muscular ability to control a pencil. At home, encourage your child’s interest in the sounds of words, particularly ending and middle sounds. Continue to read aloud with your child, delighting with him in poetry, adventure, and expanding knowledge. Sand Paper Letters The sandpaper letters consist of three sets of large wooden cards with letters cut out of sandpaper mounted on them. One set consists of red cards with the consonants on them. One set consists of blue cards with the vowels mounted on them. The third set consists of green cards with two letters mounted on them that have one sound, such as ‘sh’, ‘ch’, and ‘tion’. These are the child’s first introduction to the sounds of letters. They are introduced consonants first. The sounds are given only phonetically, which is how the child hears the sound; for example, the child hears ‘t’ at the beginning of ‘top’, not ‘tee’. In the first introduction of vowels, the short vowel sound (apple, egg, insect, ostrich, and umbrella) is used. Using two or three cards at a time, the teacher shows the child how to trace the letter with the first two fingers of his dominant hand while he quietly says the sound of that letter. Use of this material gives the child a three-fold impression — he sees the shape, feels the shape, and hears the sound. The fact that the letter is made of sandpaper rather than ink invites the child to trace the shape. This is an important step in learning to write. Repetition of this exercise fixes the path of each letter in the child’s muscle memory. As soon as the child learns a few consonants and vowels, he may begin constructing three-letter words using the movable alphabet. At home, your child will have an intense interest in the sounds of words. Watch carefully how you enunciate so that both the beginning and ending sounds are clearly audible in your speech. Play games with words that start or end with a particular sound. Don’t press your child into writing or reading. Let him lead you in what his interests are. It is not necessary to ‘practice’ a lot at home. Your child will gradually bloom into both reading and writing. Your own obvious enjoyment of reading and writing and of reading good literature out loud to your child are all the encouragement your child needs to want to acquire this most wonderful skill. The metal inserts are an exercise to strengthen and reinforce the child’s muscles so he may use a pencil in writing. With metal insets, the child creates beautiful designs and he does not weary of practice because it is so enjoyable. The metal insets are a tray of ten individual metal squares with different blue shapes cut out of them. The child is first shown how to trace around the edge of the inside piece and he is taught the name of the shape. He is then taught to trace around the shape of the outside piece with a pencil, in stencil fashion. Colored pencils are used on colored paper. After the figure is traced, the outline is filled in with any number of different lines (vertical, horizontal, or wavy). At first, the child’s strokes are erratic and extend beyond the outline. By degrees they become more accurate and uniform. Progress in control of the pencil can be detected by comparing designs made over a period of months. Eventually, more intricate designs may be created by superimposing other shapes over the original. When colored well, this work resembles stained glass. The child may return to this equipment long after he has mastered writing because of the creative outlet it provides. At home, allow your child access to activities that develop fine motor control. Needlework, using crayons in intricate designs, and building models are excellent fine motor development exercises as well as reinforcing for the enjoyment they provide. Encourage your child’s creativity with combining colors in various art activities and his craftsmanship in executing the various projects. The puzzle maps are quite large wooden puzzles with a knob to remove each piece, which represents a political entity such as a state or a country. These knobs are generally placed at the country or state capitols. There are eight maps. The puzzle map of the world shows the continents and is color coded to a small globe so that the child can see the relationship between a piece on the map and its position on the globe. Each continent is then presented as a separate map with its individual countries. Generally, Australia is presented first as the simplest and Africa is presented last as the most difficult. The United States is the only map of a country with its individual states. The purpose of the puzzle maps changes as the child matures. The beginning student loves them for the sensorial aspects. Taking out the pieces and placing them back in their frame appeals to the love of order. A very young child may need assistance to carry the maps, as they tend to be large and heavy to a 3-year-old. He learns grace and courtesy as he requests help from a classmate. The more mature child learns concentration and fine motor skills as he pricks individual pieces for the map he is constructing. The parent’s appreciation for the finished map reaffirms the worth of the child’s work. As the child matures and begins to appreciate a more global view, his absorption of facts will serve him well as he recalls them in his elementary education. There are many variations for the puzzle maps. The child will be shown first how to remove each piece carefully and then how to reassemble the map. The maps are never dumped from the frame. He may prick individual pieces out of construction paper with a pushpin and then assemble his own map on a poster board. The child who is beginning to write may label each piece. Corresponding flags may be drawn and colored or animals indigenous to the land may be placed on the maps. The equipment is rich with language that the children absorb like sponges. You will want to extend the child’s interest at home with books and stories about various cultures, customs, climates, and foods. Accept your child’s questions and comments about Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Idaho as a matter-of-course. In our shrinking world, this enrichment is vital. Land formations is a set of eight trays illustrating three-dimensional land and water formations. These are exactly opposite so that lake and island are the reverse of each other, isthmus/strait is a pair, peninsula/gulf, and bay/cape match. The trays are made so that water can be poured into them to illustrate concretely the difference between an isthmus and a strait, and so on. A set of cards matches the land forms to illustrate the formations only visually. With the apparatus, the child can see in a very concrete way what we mean when we say ‘island’. Extensions of the lesson include picking the shapes and making booklets of land formations and matching these fairly difficult words with their appropriate shapes. At home, you can be sensitive to the difference between a ‘lake’ and a ‘sea’. Point out such distinctions when you see them on a globe, in an airplane, or in your reading.
What is shale gas? Shale rocks are generally dense and black-coloured, formed from mud deposited at the bottom of past oceans, now solidified into rock. This mud is rich in un-decayed organic matter - that's what gives shales their black colour. When heated, the organic matter is transformed into oil and gas. Once it has formed, some of this oil and gas is able to move out of the shale layers, rising through overlying strata, where it may become trapped in sandstone or limestone layers. This oil and gas is what we consider to be 'conventional' reservoirs, where we have usually looked for oil. it has always been known that much of the oil and gas formed during burial remains behind, trapped in the shale layers. Compared to sandstones and limestones shales tend to have lower porosity, making it harder for the oil and gas to move about through the shale. This means that it is harder to extract gas from shale than from conventional reservoirs where the fluids can flow more freely. how is shale gas extracted? Firstly, a well is sunk, which travels vertically through the overlying strata. When it reaches the shale layer, it turns sideways, drilling horizontally. Modern wells are capable of drilling over 10km horizontally: such wells are called 'extended reach laterals'. This part is absolutely no different to Once the horizontal well is drilled, it must be hydraulically stimulated, or as it has become known, "fracked". The horizontal well is "fracked" in portions, stage by stage every few hundred meters or so, meaning that a 2km lateral well might need 10 to 20 stages. For each stage, the targetted section of the well is sealed off, and water is pumped down at high pressure. This water will contain about 1% chemicals that make the stimulation more efficient: surfactants (basically like detergent) that make the water more 'slippery', so less pressure is needed to pump it; and viscosifiers, that help the water carry proppant (more on that in a The pressure of the water is sufficient to open up pre-existing fractures in the rock, and to create new ones. These fractures are important, because they provide a pathway for the gas to flow out of the shale rock and into the well. Above I pointed out that it is difficult for oil and gas to flow through shale rocks. It is the fractures that allow them to flow into the well. Towards the end of the stage, proppant is pumped with the water. Proppant is usually just sand and gravel, although ceramic beads can also be used. The proppant is pushed into the fractures that have been created, literally 'propping' them open, ensuring that the gas can continue to flow. Each stage takes a few hours of pumping, so to "frack" all the stages of a lateral might take a week. Once that is completed, the well is ready for production. A small 'Christmas Tree' valve is placed on the top of the well, and the gas may continue to flow for years without any further intervention. suddenly a lot of media fuss about fracking. It must be a new Wells were first hydraulically stimulated in the 1940s. It has been a standard tool in a driller's toolbox for a long time. Horizontal wells are in fact far newer, really only becoming common in the 1990s. Some would argue that the current developments have more to do with horizontal drilling than they do hydraulic stimulation. However, even with these developments, many geologists felt that it would never be possible to extract gas from shales at economic rates. Mitchell, a Texan, persevered through the 1990s, improving the technique, to show that it was in fact possible, and the shale revolution was born. Since then, a drilling boom exploded as American companies realised they didn't have to look abroad, or in the deep and treacherous waters of the Gulf of Mexico, because huge volumes of oil and gas were to be found under Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania and now 30 other US states. So hydraulic stimulation, or "fracking", is a very well established technique. Horizontal drilling, just as essential to shale development, but much less talked about, is newer, developing in the 1990s. However, to extract gas from shales requires more fractures than in a conventional reservoir, as they are initially less permeable. Therefore, the volumes of water being injected for shale are typically larger than that used previously in conventional reservoirs. So while current developments are not using new technology, it does represent a scaling up of that technology. heard about scary-sounding chemicals contaminating water supplies. Is Opponents of fracking sometimes talk about the 500 toxic chemicals needed to "frack". I don't think any stimulation needs 500 different chemicals: that's probably the total number used in the history of the technique, not the number used for a single stimulation. two main chemicals used are surfactants (found in most soaps/detergents) and viscosifiers (typically guar gum, used in many food products). While not hideously toxic, I wouldn't want to drink water contaminated with surfactants and the like (who'd want to drink the sink-water after they've done the washing up). In addition, the water injected during "fracking" comes into contact with the deep shale rocks. These sometimes contain heavy metals and salts, which may also enter into the "fracking" fluid. The most obvious way for these chemicals to enter groundwater is if they are spilled on the surface. There is an example from Louisiana where 17 cattle died after undiluted KCl was allowed to spill off of a drill pad. Many of the reported issues in the US are due to the ponds used to hold the waste pools lined with plastic. The lining of these ponds has been known to tear, or if it rains heavily they can overflow. Ponds like this are not allowed in the UK for exactly these reasons. In the UK waste fluids must be stored in double-lined steel tanks: this is a major difference between drilling in the UK and the USA. of fluids on the surface should be standard practice for all oil and gas operations - you can read here all the precautions Cuadrilla have taken at Balcombe, layer upon layer of protection to ensure that no substance on the drill site is allowed to leak. secondary concern, of course, is what happens when the fluid is injected into the ground. "Fracking" takes place well below the water table, typically at depths of 2 - 4km (most potable ground water is found within a few hundred meters of the surface). So there is a lot of solid rock between where the fluid is injected and any potable water. the injected fluids to contaminate groundwater, two things are required: (1) a path (such as faults and fractures) along which these fluids could migrate, and (2) a force to push these fluids along this If there were an easy path allowing fluids to move upwards, then the oil or gas, more buoyant and more mobile than water-based "frack" fluids, would have already travelled through these paths during the 200 million years of geologic history for which the gas has been trapped. Therefore, the fact that the gas is still trapped there to start with tells us that such paths are unlikely. for a driving force to push the fluids along such a pathway, should it exist? The water-based "frack" fluids, with their various additives, are of a similar density, or perhaps even more dense, than the brines that fill non-gas-bearing rocks at these depths, and of course much denser than oil and gas. Therefore, they will tend to sink downwards, rather than rise upwards. There is no driving force to push the "frack" fluids back towards the surface. So we have no pathway, and no driving mechanism, to cause injected "frack" fluids to rise upwards towards potable groundwater sources. This was the conclusion of a recent study into the possibility of hydraulic communication between shale layers are depth and shallow groundwater bodies, finding it "physically That's all fine in theory, what about the evidence? Well, a number of studies have been done on water quality in shale areas. Only one, a recent paper by an Arlington group has suggested any kind of link between drilling and contamination by "chemicals". They found a correlation between arsenic and selenium levels and proximity to natural gas wells. They are uncertain in their conclusions, however, as there are a number of possible causes for their observations. Moreover, they do not link their observations with any communication of "fracking" fluids from depth - if drilling is to blame, they believe is likely to be due to vibrations from drilling operations that agitate old, rusty water wells. This agitation of old rusty metal is the most likely source of the observed metals. majority of water quality studies have found no evidence of fracking-related chemicals in groundwater: some (one from the Duke team, one by Molofsky et al) found no evidence of any effect whatsoever on water quality. from the Duke team found evidence for methane contamination (see below), but no evidence for "fracking" fluids. also seen videos of a tap catching on fire? Is methane leakage a Perhaps the most dramatic footage in the famous Gaslands film is the scene where the farmer can set his tap water on fire. This is caused by methane gas contaminating groundwater. Methane itself is not toxic in any way, although if it builds up in large enough quantities it presents a fire hazard. There are two potential ways that methane trapped at depth in shale rock could get into shallow groundwater - through a pathway in the rock, or through a gas well. As above, if there were an existing pathway through the rock to the surface, then the gas would have already taken that route during the millions of years that it was otherwise trapped. Unlike "fracking" fluids, methane is buoyant and mobile. In drilling a well, a new potential pathway is created for methane to get to the surface. wells are drilled, they are lined with several concentric layers of steel, called the casing. When all is as it should be, the gas flows up the middle of the well, inside the casing, to the surface. The casing is fixed into place with a layer of cement that fills the small gap between the casing and the rock. If there are gaps or cracks in this cement then methane can move up through this gap (sometimes called the annulus) towards the surface. Of course, the crack/gap has to run all the way from the shale layer to the surface. Well bore integrity has long been known as a potential problem for all oil and gas wells, for both conventional and shale reservoirs. have been definite examples where poor casing/cement has lead to methane migration into shallow groundwater. Dimock, Pennsylvania, is probably the best-known. The company involved was cited for a number of violations of drilling regulations, and fined heavily. The wells have since been repaired, and methane levels have fallen back to below safe minima. Casing and cement is something the industry has been working with for a long time - there are monitoring tools that can be used to check that there are no gaps or cracks in the cement, and, as at Dimock, it is possible to repair problematic casing. majority of methane-in-groundwater complaints come from Pennsylvania. This perhaps inevitable, because methane occurs very commonly in groundwater in PA. There are a number of natural ways that can lead to methane in groundwater. Of course, that means that determining when gas drilling is to blame, and when it is natural, can be problematic. know at Dimock the gas was drilling-related. But how common is this problem. There have been three main studies here, two by the Duke team, one by Molofsky et al.. The Duke team studied the Fayetteville shale, Arkansas, and did not find any evidence for drilling-induced methane contamination. they examined the Marcellus (Pennsylvania), they found evidence for drilling-induced methane contamination. Yet this paper has come in for substantial criticism for two main reasons: the number of samples analysed (only 160ish), and the apparent non-randomness of where the samples were taken from. To address this, Molofsky et al conducted a much wider sampling regime (over 2,000 samples). They found that if you lived near a gas well, there was a 3 - 4% chance of finding methane in your groundwater. However, if you lived in an area with no drilling, there was also 3-4% chance of finding methane in your groundwater. When you look regionally, whether or not you are in a drilling area doesn't appear to affect the probability of groundwater What can we conclude from this? Well integrity and methane leakage is an important issue for the industry, one that it needs to keep on top of. We've seen at Dimock that if a company takes shortcuts, and violates regulations, this can be an issue. Importantly, there are ways to check cement integrity once a well has been drilled, and ways to repair problems. question is, how widespread is this issue? The data from Molofsky et al appear to show that it is likely to be a few isolated incidents, rather than a widespread problem. Reviews by the US Groundwater Protection Council have come to a similar I've heard that 5% of wells fail immediately, and that 50% fail eventually? This is a statistic often cited by opponents of drilling looking to highlight the methane leakage issue discussed above. The statistic comes from a paper by Schlumberger examining wells in the deep Gulf of Mexico, and particularly the chart on page 2. Firstly, it's worth noting that this 'paper' is basically an advert by a company selling well repair solutions, so it's in their interest to 'big-up' the stats as much as More importantly, what do we mean by 'well failure'? In the context of shale gas extraction, we surely mean that a well that is allowing methane to leak into shallow groundwater. This is where the use of the above statistic is somewhat disingenuous. The statistics in the paper are for sustained casing pressure, or SCP. This is where a portion of the annulus remains pressurised when it shouldn't be. This is absolutely not the same as a well leaking - leaking well will probably experience SCP, but that doesn't mean that SCP indicates a Equally disingenuous is the fact that these stats come from deepwater Gulf of Mexico wells. Drilling is a lot more challenging when there is a couple of kilometers of water between your rig and the ground (as the Deepwater Horizon accident showed). It's only in recent years that drilling technology has advanced to enable us to drill there at all. It's not a fair comparison to link wells drilled in the GoM with onshore shale wells, the drilling and casing of which is no different to the thousands of conventional onshore wells we've been drilling for almost a century. It'd be like using the number of crashes in an F1 race to predict how many accidents there'll be on the M25. Deepwater GoM wells are at the limits of our technology. Shale gas wells are far more mundane. really want to understand how common well casing issues might be in the UK, surely the best place to look is at our many current onshore wells. There have been over 2,000 wells drilled onshore UK. Whether on not they are "fracked" or not has little bearing on casing integrity. These 2,000 existing onshore wells will be no different to shale gas wells. I'm not aware of any complaints of casing integrity issues or methane contamination from any of these existing sites. fracking also trigger an earthquake in Lancashire. Is that It did. In 2011, when Cuadrilla "fracked" a well near Blackpool, two small earthquakes were triggered. Both were very small, at the limits of what humans can feel, and would have caused a similar amount of shaking to an HGV driving past your house. a fact not often appreciated that everything we do in the subsurface carries a small risk of triggering an earthquake, whether it be coal mining, conventional oil/gas, geothermal, hydroelectric. Even quarry blasts are basically man-made earthquakes. Shale gas is no different, there will always be a small risk of triggering small earthquakes. However, this risk is small: only one of the hundreds of thousands of "frack" stages in the US has triggered an earthquake. Any quakes produced will be too small to cause actual damage. DECC have said that every future "fracking" site will require seismic monitoring, and Bristol University have currently deployed seismometers at the Balcombe site (even though they're not planning to "frack" at this stage). know that some forms of hydrocarbon extraction lead to subsidence issues. Could that be a problem for shale gas? When you remove material from the ground, a space is created that is sometimes filled by the overlying material subsiding into the gap. This is particularly true for coal mining, which can cause severe subsidence. shale rocks are dense, with low porosity. That is why they need to be "fracked" to get the gas out. Because of this, they are usually mechanically strong enough to support themselves once the gas is removed. As such, subsidence is not expected to be an issue during shale gas extraction. The Barnett shale in Texas is the oldest shale field: production started over 10 years ago. There has been no measurable subsidence during this time. How much water will be Several million gallons of water, or 2 - 5,000 cubic meters of water are needed for each well. That's a couple of olympic-sized swimming pools. That sounds like a lot of water. However, it's important to keep that number in context. The average golf course can easily use this much water a week in summer months. Similarly (and a lot more shockingly), UK water systems leak over 3 billion liters (3 million cubic meters) per day. So if we our utilities were to improve leakage by 1%, we'd have enough water to "frack" 30 stages every In all but the driest places, shale gas development doesn't pose a strain on water resources. Moreover, water abstraction is regulated in the UK. If demands on water resources are too great, the Environment Agency will not provide a license to abstract water, and utilities will not provide it. about air pollution, is that a potential issue? water contamination, this is one of the hot issues for shale extraction, because it involves people's health. There have been a number of regional-scale air quality surveys that do not find any evidence for drilling-related air quality issues, including in the Barnett shale and in Pennsylvania. In fact, the Pennsylvania report shows significant improvements in air quality, mainly because coal-fired power stations are being replace by gas power stations. localised studies have found the occasional issue, mainly it seems with compressor stations rather than drilling sites. However, even these studies have concluded that "the screening results do not indicate a potential for major air-related health issues associated with the Marcellus Shale Fracking might be ok in the wide-open spaces of the US, but surely there's no space for it in the UK? that shale gas extraction is easier in unpopulated areas. Opponents of shale gas often show images of the Jonah gas field, where the land is covered with wells. This is actually a conventional gas field, drilled in the 1990s, before horizontal drilling had taken off. The benefit of horizontal drilling is that you don't need nearly as many well pads. The truth is that the drilling industry is very adaptable. Sure, if you give them a big empty space and tell them you can drill all over it, then they probably will. However, they can cope in far more constrained conditions when it is necessary. Perhaps the best example of this is Dallas-Forth Worth. This is the 9th most populated city in America, with a population of over 6 million. Yet the Barnett shale runs right underneath, and it's being drilled. By using long lateral wells, drilling sites can be squeezed into urban and suburban areas without taking up much space at all. Does the UK have much of a record for onshore drilling? The UK onshore industry does not have a very visible profile. However, it is there: we produce 100 million cubic meters of gas per year. Over 2,000 onshore wells have been drilled in the UK. Of these, about 200 have been "fracked". I've plotted a map of all the wells here. In some places, such as Beckingham Marshes, they manage to squeeze a lot of wells into not-very-much space, without upsetting local The UK onshore industry has been very good at staying out of sight, and very good at making sure they do not pollute. If we want to predict what shale gas development in the UK will be like, the first place to look should be the current onshore industry, which does a very effective job working with local communities. heard that the methane leaks mean that shale gas is actually worse for climate change than coal. Is that true? Burning coal for electricity produces approximately 3 times as much CO2 as natural gas does. Therefore, switching from coal fired to natural gas fired electricity should represent a significant benefit. CO2 emissions in the US have dropped significantly as gas has replaced coal as a source of However, natural gas production has the potential to release methane to the atmosphere. Methane is also a potent greenhouse gas, so if shale gas extraction emits a lot of methane, it could counteract the benefits of reduced CO2. This was the premise of a paper by Howarth et al., which has garnered a lot of publicity. However, this paper has come in for a raft of criticism, as most other studies on the subject have indicated very clear benefits from switching from coal to gas. No Hot Air lists some of the scathing comments about the Howarth study funded by the EU Commission concluded that, with respect to greenhouse gas emission, domestic shale gas production has a similar footprint to imported gas (that has to be compressed and shipped to Europe from the Middle East), and a significantly better footprint than Even if it's better than coal, gas is still a fossil fuel. Surely we should be focusing all our efforts on renewable electricity? we're on to a more serious criticism of shale gas development. We know we already have more fossil fuel reserves than we can safely burn without causing catastrophic climate change, so why are we bothering to look for more? My answer to this comes in two parts: firstly is to point out, as above, that for a unit of energy produced, shale gas emits less than half as much CO2 as coal. If we are to avoid climate change, there must presumably be an upper limit to the rate that we can emit CO2. If the treat of climate change requires us to ration our CO2 emissions, it seems obvious that we should choose the fuel source that gives us the most energy for that ration of CO2 emission. That fuel source, by a significant margin, is gas. correct that we should leave a large portion of our current fossil fuel reserves in the ground. That portion, however, should be coal. Moreover, renewable energy currently requires flexible backup sources - an abundance of gas provides this. My second argument relates to how we get to a point where our CO2 emissions are reduced. A common call is that 'we should be investing in renewable energy sources'. This is absolutely true. However, in order to invest, you need to have money to invest. Given our current economic struggles, it becomes harder and harder to politically justify renewable energy receiving public money, either as a supplement on bills or as a direct subsidy from the treasury. If the economy improves, there will be more money available to invest. In my opinion, we should be ring-fencing a proportion of the taxes made on shale gas development, in order that they be re-invested into renewables and/or next-gen nuclear. This would ensure that in the short term we reduce our CO2 emissions by replacing coal fired power, but that in the long term investment continues in alternative energy sources, such that they will be ready as soon as possible. That's the theory, how does this bear up to reality? Well, Texas is the undisputed home of shale gas, with the Barnett, Eagleford and Haynesville shale plays. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, Texas is also one of the leading states in terms of renewable energy, and the renewables boom has occurred at pretty-much the same time as the shale boom. In Texas, at least, a booming shale gas industry has gone hand-in-hand with booming renewables, rather than competing with each Will shale gas have an impact on my gas This is somewhat uncertain, and as a geoscientist I'm probably straying outside of my main area of expertise. recent report commissioned by the government suggests prices could fall by 25%. However, other reports have suggested it would have less of However, it's important to look at the economic impacts beyond consumer gas prices. At present, we expect to be buying more and more gas from places like Norway and Qatar. That is money that leaves the UK economy for good, never to be seen again. It creates no jobs, and pays no taxes. In contrast, a UK shale gas industry would provide jobs for UK workers. It's true that some of those jobs would be specialists, attracting high-payed international workers. That is still beneficial to the UK economy, because those people will live in the UK, and spend their money here. But there are many lower-skilled jobs involved as well. remember the manufacturing chain. For example, well pads need cement. The casing is high quality steel, and each well needs several kilometers of it. That means work for people who make cement and steel. Add in the mulitplier effect, as more employment means more people buying things in shops, eating in restaurants, staying in hotels, and it's clear that, whatever the effect on the gas price, shale development will have a significant impact on the economy. Equally, any gas produced will be taxed. That's money going into the public purse, to be spent on schools, hospitals, or even wind farms. Public finances appear to be somewhat short of cash at the moment. Given our current situation, I don't think we can afford to be handing billions of pounds a year over to Qatar to host an air-conditioned World Cup when we could be reaping the economic benefits of shale gas development at home.
College Basketball Picks (Jan. 10-16): 5-3-1 (+$210) College Basketball Picks (Jan. 17-23): 7-4 (+$710) College Basketball Picks (Jan. 24-30): 6-3-1 (+$520) College Basketball Picks (Jan. 31-Feb. 6): 5-4 (-$110) College Basketball Picks (Feb. 7-13): 5-4-1 (+$310) College Basketball Picks (Feb. 14-20): 5-3 (+$330) College Basketball Picks (Feb. 21-27): 3-5 (-$500) College Basketball Picks (Feb. 28-March 6): 5-4 (+$120) College Basketball Picks (March 7-13): 2-5-1 (-$700) College Basketball Picks (March 14-20): 2-4 (-$475) College Basketball Picks (March 21-27): 1-3 (-$230) College Basketball Picks (Reg Season 2010-11): 46-42-4 (+$185) College Basketball Picks (Reg Season 2009-10): 46-40-1 (+$880) College Basketball Picks (Reg Season 2008-09): 66-53-2 (+$1,680) Monday, April 4, 2011 Butler (28-9) vs. Connecticut (31-9) Line: Connecticut by 3.5. 9:20 PM ET (Game 601-602) You have to be nuts to bet this game. Almost every sharp in Vegas has sucked in this NCAA Tournament (per Bill Simmons' podcast). With a gun to my head, I'd take the Huskies moneyline because I don't think Kemba Walker will lose. But who the hell knows anymore? Virginia-Commonwealth (27-11) vs. Kansas (35-2) Line: Kansas by 11.5. 2:00 PM ET (Game 721-722) Even when I'm right, I'm wrong. I'm taking Kansas - they're now the favorite to win the whole thing, and as I wrote earlier, the past five national champs are 26-4 against the spread in the tournament. The Jayhawks are 2-1 ATS thus far. Arizona (30-7) vs. Connecticut (29-9) Line: Connecticut by 2.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 515-516) I've suddenly realized why I've sucked at handicapping the NCAA Tournament - because it makes no f*ing sense. How does Kentucky go from nearly losing to Princeton to knocking off Ohio State? Whatever. I'm going one unit from here on out, and I'm taking Kemba Walker tonight. I think we're all overreacting to Arizona's victory over Duke. The Wildcats just played their best half of the entire season. I doubt they can duplicate that. Kentucky (27-8) vs. Ohio State (34-2) Line: Ohio State by 6. 9:30 PM ET (Game 879-880) I'm going to continue to ride Ohio State. As I wrote last weekend, national champions are 26-4 against the spread in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2006, and Ohio State is undefeated against the spread thus far. College Basketball Pick: Ohio State 82, Kentucky 70 Ohio State -6 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Kentucky 62, Ohio State 60 Thursday, March 24, 2011 (1-0, +$100) Butler (25-9) vs. Wisconsin (25-8) Line: Wisconsin by 4.5. 9:55 PM ET (Game 807-808) I'm done betting against Butler. They're awesome. They have more experience than Wisconsin, and I can't believe that they'd lose by five or more points to anyone outside of maybe Ohio State. Michigan (21-13) vs. Duke (31-4) Line: Duke by 12.5. 2:45 PM ET (Game 719-720) This seems like a high spread, but not after you hear this stat: Since 2006, teams that win the championship are 26-4 against the spread in the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind, I'm taking the two best teams. College Basketball Pick: Duke 81, Michigan 61 Duke -12.5 (1.5 Units) -- Incorrect; -$165 Duke 73, Michigan 71 George Mason (27-6) vs. Ohio State (33-2) Line: Ohio State by 11. 5:15 PM ET (Game 723-724) Once again, I'm taking the two teams that have the best shot at winning the NCAA Tournament. As for Kansas, I think they're too lazy after watchinig them struggle on Friday. College Basketball Pick: Ohio State 77, George Mason 59 Ohio State -11 (1.5 Units) -- Correct; +$150 Ohio State 98, George Mason 66 Friday, March 18, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Hampton (24-8) vs. Duke (30-4) Line: Duke by 23. 3:10 PM ET (Game 829-830) If I don't get this selection right, I'm done making college basketball picks for the year. I did so well in the regular season, but the conference and NCAA Tournaments have destroyed my bankroll. College Basketball Pick: Duke 86, Hampton 60 Duke -23 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Duke 87, Hampton 45 Thursday, March 17, 2011 (0-2, -$440) Northern Colorado (21-10) vs. San Diego State (32-2) Line: San Diego State by 15.5. 4:40 PM ET (Game 731-732) One afternoon game and one evening game today - I like Northern Colorado to cover the spread. San Diego State had only four conference blowouts, so I don't know why they'd suddenly have a huge victory over a conference champion that can score. College Basketball Pick: San Diego State 76, Northern Colorado 68 Northern Colorado +15.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 San Diego State 78, Northern Colorado 60 Belmont (30-4) vs. Wisconsin (23-8) Line: Wisconsin by 5. 7:25 PM ET (Game 737-738) Belmont is better than Wisconsin. That's why I'm taking them. The Badgers are in a free fall; they were blown out at Ohio State and then scored just 33 points against Penn State. UAB (22-8) vs. Clemson (21-11) Line: Clemson by 4.5. 9:00 PM ET (Game 541-542) As I wrote in my 2011 NCAA Tournament Picks, I believe that UAB and VCU will make all the talking heads eat their words by winning two games in the Big Dance (including these bogus first-four contests). College Basketball Pick: UAB 69, Clemson 67 UAB +4.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Clemson 70, UAB 52 Saturday, March 12, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Michigan State (19-13) vs. Penn State (18-13) Line: Michigan State by 3. 4:00 PM ET (Game 535-536) - Game at Indianapolis, Ind. Penn State is currently in the NCAA Tournament according to Joe Lunardi and our own bracketology, but I'm terrified that we're going to embarrass ourselves against Michigan State. It's Izzo Time, and the Nittany Lions are just 4-19 in their previous 23 matchups against Sparty. College Basketball Pick: Michigan State 59, Penn State 52 Michigan State -3 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Penn State 61, Michigan State 48 Friday, March 11, 2011 (0-2, -$440) LaSalle (15-17) vs. Temple (24-6) Line: Temple by 9.5. 6:30 PM ET (Game 839-840) - Game at Atlantic City, N.J. Temple is a capsizing team. The Owls have struggled recently - they barely beat LaSalle about a week ago - because they have so many injuries. It wouldn't surprise me if they lost this game. South Florida (9-22) vs. Villanova (23-9) Line: Villanova by 9.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 569-570) - Game at Madison Square Garden, N.Y. Villanova really sucks. Sure, they've lost to a bunch of great teams recently, but they also barely beat DePaul and Seton Hall during their slump. It wouldn't surprise me if South Florida came away with a victory. College Basketball Pick: Villanova 73, South Florida 69 South Florida +9.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 South Florida 70, Villanova 69 Monday, March 7, 2011 (0-1, -$220) South Dakota State (19-11) vs. Oakland (23-9) Line: Oakland by 2.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 531-532) - Game at Sioux Falls, S.D. My strategy to bet against the No. 1 seeds in conference tournaments completely bombed on Saturday, but worked flawlessly on Sunday. If only I had the balls to stick with it. Ugh. Let's keep going with it. This Oakland team is lucky enough to evade Al Davis, but South Dakota State is pretty much at home. College Basketball Pick: South Dakota State 81, Oakland 77 South Dakota State +2.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Oakland 110, South Dakota State 90 Saturday, March 5, 2011 (1-4, -$680) Binghamton (8-22) vs. Vermont (22-7) Line: Vermont by 12. 2:20 PM ET (Game 703-704) - Game at Hartford, Conn. I have five picks today, all of which have one thing in common - I'm betting against No. 1 seeds in mid- and low-major conference tournaments. The reason's simple: These teams have enjoyed tremendous regular seasons, but one loss here means elimination from NCAA Tournament contention. That's just way too much pressure on a bunch of kids. Hell, professional football and basketball players tend to choke in must-win situations. In this game, I'm taking Tony Kornheiser's alma mater. Binghamton has been blown out only once since Jan. 23. The Bearcats battled Vermont close on Feb. 13, losing 60-51. North Florida (15-18) vs. Belmont (29-4) Line: Belmont by 17.5. 6:00 PM ET (Game 711-712) - Game at Macon, Ga. How can you not take a school named after the great vampire hunter, Simon Belmont? Well, the Bruins have been shaky lately, barely beating Kennesaw State and Mercer. The Ospreys, meanwhile, have knocked off the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. College Basketball Pick: Belmont 78, North Florida 68 North Florida +17.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Belmont 87, North Florida 46 Southern Utah (11-18) vs. Oakland (22-9) Line: Oakland by 13. 7:00 PM ET (Game 713-714) - Game at Sioux Falls, S.D. I'm sure Oakland has a bunch of "great playas" with Al Davis in town, but I'm taking Southern Utah to cover. The Thunderbirds were 5-3 in the month of February, and their losses were by 3, 2 and 14. Elon (14-16) vs. College of Charleston (22-9) Line: College of Charleston by 9. 9:25 PM ET (Game 675-676) - Game at Chattanooga, Tenn. This is a conspicuously short line, but Elon's the hotter team. The Phoenix have won four of five, while College of Charleston has dropped two in a row going into the SoCon Tournament. College Basketball Pick: College of Charleston 77, Elon 75 Elon +9 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 College of Charleston 78, Elon 60 Friday, March 4, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Southern Illinois (13-18) at Missouri State (23-7) Line: Missouri State by 11. 1:00 PM ET (Game 843-844) Missouri State put together a great season. However, it could all end this afternoon if they lose to a crappy 13-18 squad. That's a lot of pressure to put on a bunch of kids. Also, the Bears have only one double-digit victory in the past two months. This game's happening in 20 minutes, FYI. I apologize; I didn't realize that there were early games today. College Basketball Pick: Missouri State 68, Southern Illinois 61 Southern Illinois +11 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Missouri State 58, Southern Illinois 56 Thursday, March 3, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Oregon State (10-17) at Arizona (23-6) Line: Arizona by 14.5. 8:30 PM ET (Game 515-516) Arizona is not playing good basketball right now. The Wildcats have dropped two in a row, and have only beaten one opponent by double digits since Jan. 27. Oregon State, meanwhile, has kept its games close over the past month. I also gave some consideration to St. John's -2. But that line just looks like a trap. The Johnnies should be ranked in the top 10 and Seton Hall sucks, so why is the line only -2? Makes no sense to me. College Basketball Pick: Arizona 79, Oregon State 70 Oregon State +14.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Arizona 70, Oregon State 59 Wednesday, March 2, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Eastern Washington (8-19) at Weber State (17-10) Line: Weber State by 13. 8:00 PM ET (Game 803-804) The last time Eastern Washington lost by more than 12 points? Jan. 13. Weber State has bigger fish to fry with the Big Sky Tournament coming up. College Basketball Pick: Weber State 73, Eastern Washington 65 Eastern Washington +13 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Eastern Washington 75, Weber State 59 Tuesday, March 1, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Youngstown State (9-20) at Valparaiso (21-10) Line: Valparaiso by 13.5. 8:00 PM ET (Game 547-548) Valparaiso is 21-10, but they're just 2-3 in their previous five games. Youngstown State, meanwhile, has not lost by more than 12 points since Jan. 29. College Basketball Pick: Valparaiso 75, Youngstown State 67 Youngstown State +13.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Valparaiso 80, Youngstown State 71 Sunday, February 27, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Providence (14-14) at Marquette (17-11) Line: Marquette by 10. 4:00 PM ET (Game 833-834) Marquette, losers of five of its previous nine games, has been inconsistent all year. I don't think they deserve to be favored by 10 over a decent Providence team. The Friars should be able to score enough to cover. St. John's (18-9) at Villanova (21-7) Line: Villanova by 6.5. 2:00 PM ET (Game 567-568) Villanova has been playing like crap lately. They're 2-3 in their previous five, with their two wins coming against DePaul (by 2) and Seton Hall (by 3). St. John's is the better team right now. College Basketball Pick: Villanova 70, St. John's 69 St. John's +6.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 St. John's 81, Villanova 68 Mississippi State (14-13) at Tennessee (17-11) Line: Tennessee by 11. 6:00 PM ET (Game 601-602) Tennessee is a lazy team that doesn't take lesser opponents seriously. And they're not that good. The Vols have lost four of six, while Mississippi State hasn't suffered a double-digit loss since Feb. 2. College Basketball Pick: Tennessee 71, Mississippi State 68 Mississippi State +11 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Mississippi State 70, Tennessee 69 Wyoming (10-17) at UNLV (21-7) Line: UNLV by 17.5. 10:00 PM ET (Game 673-674) This is a pretty high spread for UNLV. The Rebs don't really blow teams out, while Wyoming has been playing well of late. DePaul (7-19) at St. John's (17-9) Line: St. John's by 13.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 731-732) DePaul has been playing everyone tough. Check out their previous five results: loss by 2 vs. Villanova; win by 3 at Providence; loss by 11 at West Virginia; loss by 3 vs. Cincinnnati; loss by 4 at Louisville. Meanwhile, St. John's has battled so many tough opponents recently; the last cupcake team they've played was Rutgers (at home on Feb. 2), and they won that game by only two points. This could be a similar letdown. College Basketball Pick: St. John's 71, DePaul 64 DePaul +13.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 St. John's 76, DePaul 51 Tuesday, February 22, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Illinois (17-10) at Ohio State (26-2) Line: Ohio State by 10.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 523-524) Ohio State isn't playing good basketball right now, having lost two of three. Illinois, meanwhile, has just one loss of five or more points in conference play. They really need this game more than the Buckeyes; a victory would pretty much clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. College Basketball Pick: Ohio State 67, Illinois 61 Illinois +10.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Ohio State 89, Illinois 70 Monday, February 21, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Maryland Eastern Shore (6-20) at Morgan State (13-10) Line: Morgan State by 13. 9:00 PM ET (Game 721-722) Maryland Eastern Shore has an awful record, but it plays its opponents tough; the Hawks have been blown out only once in the past month. Meanwhile, Morgan State has only one blowout victory in the same span. College Basketball Pick: Morgan State 73, Maryland Eastern Shore 68 Maryland Eastern Shore +13 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Morgan State 71, Maryland Eastern Shore 54 Sunday, February 20, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Penn State (14-11) at Wisconsin (19-6) Line: Wisconsin by 12. 6:00 PM ET (Game 865-866) After a brief slump, Penn State's playing well again. I like them to cover against Wisconsin. The Badgers don't really blow teams out; they just don't have the explosive offense to do that. College Basketball Pick: Wisconsin 69, Penn State 62 Penn State +12 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Wisconsin 76, Penn State 66 Saturday, February 19, 2011 (1-1, +$80) Texas Tech (11-15) at Baylor (17-8) Line: Baylor by 12. 8:00 PM ET (Game 593-594) Texas Tech has only been blown out twice in the past month - against top-three teams Kansas and Texas. I wouldn't put Baylor in that category. The Bears have just one victory of more than four points since Jan. 22 - and that was against Wayland Baptist. San Francisco (14-12) at Gonzaga (18-9) Line: Gonzaga by 14.5. 8:00 PM ET (Game 595-596) I'm going against overrated Gonzaga again. San Francisco is 7-2 in its previous nine games, so this line should be in single digits. College Basketball Pick: Gonzaga 76, San Francisco 68 San Francisco +14.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Gonzaga 70, San Francisco 53 Friday, February 18, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Kennesaw State (8-18) at Jacksonville (17-8) Line: Jacksonville by 16. 7:00 PM ET (Game 823-824) I have no idea where Kennesaw State is, but I'm taking them to cover this inflated point spread. Kennesaw State has won three of four, and they're a team that doesn't get blown out frequently. Meanwhile, Jacksonville doesn't have a win of more than 13 points since Jan. 22. College Basketball Pick: Jacksonville 69, Kennesaw State 63 Kennesaw State +16 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Jacksonville 75, Kennesaw State 60 Thursday, February 17, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Santa Clara (16-11) at Gonzaga (17-9) Line: Gonzaga by 13.5. 9:00 PM ET (Game 531-532) Not sure what happened yesterday. Losing the spread by 1.5 and three points sucks, what can I say? Hopefully we'll have better luck today. I'm taking this Santa Clara team that has only one loss of more than seven points during conference play. Gonzaga seems to be getting too many points because they're a public team. College Basketball Pick: Gonzaga 76, Santa Clara 73 Santa Clara +13.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Gonzaga 85, Santa Clara 76 Wednesday, February 16, 2011 (0-2, -$550) Youngstown State (8-17) at Detroit (14-14) Line: Detroit by 10.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 737-738) I went with Youngstown State last week because they usually keep games close. They should be able to cover against a Detroit team that has dropped two in a row and is 4-7 in its previous 11 games. College Basketball Pick: Detroit 73, Youngstown State 68 Youngstown State +10.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Detroit 91, Youngstown State 79 CS-Fullerton (9-16) at UC-Santa Barbara (13-10) Line: UC-Santa Barbara by 12. 7:00 PM ET (Game 737-738) Both teams are 3-4 in their previous seven games, yet UC-Santa Barbara is a 12-point favorite. How does that make any sense? UC-Santa Barbara doesn't blow anyone out, while CS-Fullerton usually keeps its games close; the four aforementioned losses were by 1, 2, 2 and 15. College Basketball Pick: UC-Santa Barbara 74, CS-Fullerton 68 CS-Fullerton +12 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 UC-Santa Barbara 86, CS-Fullerton 71 Tuesday, February 15, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Mississippi State (13-11) at Kentucky (17-7) Line: Kentucky by 17.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 529-530) Kentucky should not be favored by this much. Not only have they not blown out anyone in a month; they're just 3-4 in their previous seven games. Mississippi State, meanwhile, has won three of five. College Basketball Pick: Kentucky 77, Mississippi State 68 Mississippi State +17.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Kentucky 85, Mississippi State 79 Sunday, February 13, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Providence (14-10) at Connecticut (18-5) Line: Connecticut by 10. 7:00 PM ET (Game 839-840) Connecticut is really struggling right now, having lost three of four. Providence is playing much better; the Friars have won three of five. They seldom get blown out. Youngstown State (8-16) at Cleveland State (21-5) Line: Cleveland State by 17. 2:00 PM ET (Game 555-556) Cleveland State has dropped two in a row and has beaten only one team by more than 14 points since New Years Day. Youngstown State, meanwhile, has battled everyone tough. They've only been blown out once in the past month. College Basketball Pick: Cleveland State 71, Youngstown State 66 Youngstown State +17 (3 Units) -- Correct; +$300 Cleveland State 86, Youngstown State 76 Friday, February 11, 2011 (1-1, +$80) Yale (11-9) at Harvard (16-4) Line: Harvard by 11.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 821-822) Yale is a solid team. They've won two in a row, and six of their previous eight. The last time they lost a game by more than eight points was on Dec. 28 at Stanford. Harvard, meanwhile, has only two victories of more than 11 points since New Years Eve. Those wins came against Cornell and Dartmouth, the two worst teams in the Ivy League. Penn (9-10) at Cornell (5-15) Line: Cornell by 2.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 825-826) I'm standing by my position that Cornell really sucks and is very overvalued. College Basketball Pick: Penn 71, Cornell 67 Penn +2.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Cornell 82, Penn 71 (OT) Thursday, February 10, 2011 (1-1, -$130) Georgia Southern (4-21) at Furman (17-7) Line: Furman by 20.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 563-564) Furman is favored by 20.5 - which is way too many points for a team coming off a loss that doesn't blow its opponents out. Georgia Southern, meanwhile, has only lost one game by 20-plus points since the beginning of January, so they've been playing tough despite their ugly record. Sacramento State (6-16) at Montana (16-7) Line: Montana by 17. 7:00 PM ET (Game 577-578) Sacramento State has a much worse record than Montana, but they're playing better basketball right now. They've won three of four, while the Grizz have dropped two in a row. College Basketball Pick: Montana 68, Sacramento State 63 Sacramento State +17 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 Montana 64, Sacramento 44 Wednesday, February 9, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Bradley (8-16) at Missouri State (18-6) Line: Missouri State by 15.5. 8:00 PM ET (Game 765-766) I have to go on a rant for a second because we were seriously cheated in the Indiana-Purdue game last night. Indiana stayed within 11 points the entire game. Thanks to a pair of free throws in the final minute, Purdue finally increased its lead to 12. Indiana missed the ensuing layup, and there were 20 seconds remaining. Now, down 12 with 20 seconds left, the Hoosiers had no chance, right? Not according to head coach Tom Crean. Crean yelled at his players, imploring them to foul. The refs let a couple of fouls go, but finally blew the whistle with 13 seconds left. Yeah, you're going to overcome a 12-point deficit in 13 seconds, you fing moron. As this happened, I yelled: "No!!!!!!!!!! What the f are you fouling for!!!!! F* you, Tom Crean, you f*ing nerd!!!!!" Of course, Purdue drained two free throws and Indiana missed a half-aed attempt at a three-pointer, and that was that. The worst push in college basketball history. At any rate, Missouri State isn't playing very good basketball right now; they've dropped two of three and haven't even covered the spread since Jan. 16. Bradley, meanwhile, has won two in a row. College Basketball Pick: Missouri State 71, Bradley 64 Bradley +15.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Missouri State 77, Bradley 69 Tuesday, February 8, 2011 (0-1-1, -$220) Indiana (12-12) at Purdue (18-5) Line: Purdue by 14. 7:00 PM ET (Game 519-520) Purdue doesn't blow teams out; the last time the Boilermakers have beaten a team by this margin was Iowa on Jan. 9. Indiana, meanwhile, is playing well right now. If the Hoosiers can keep within double digits of Wisconsin and Michigan State, they should be able to cover this large spread. Utah (10-13) at San Diego State (23-1) Line: San Diego State by 17.5. 10:30 PM ET (Game 537-538) I had Utah about a week ago, and that worked out well. They should be able to cover. Like Purdue, San Diego State doesn't blow teams out; the Aztecs have just one win of more than 13 points since New Years Eve. College Basketball Pick: San Diego State 73, Utah 67 Utah +17.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 San Diego State 85, Utah 53 Monday, February 7, 2011 (1-0, +$300) Illinois-Chicago (6-18) at Butler (15-9) Line: Butler by 16.5. 7:00 PM ET (Game 721-722) Butler is highly overrated. They're just 1-6 against the spread as double-digit favorites this year, and they've dropped four of their previous six overall. Illinois-Chicago, meanwhile, has only lost one game by more than 14 points since New Years Day. Providence (14-9) at Georgetown (17-5) Line: Georgetown by 11.5. 12:00 PM ET (Game 525-526) Georgetown is known as the laziest team in college basketball. They seldom try hard when they don't need to, and they have just one win of more than 11 points since Dec. 23. Providence has won three of four. Cornell (4-15) at Brown (8-11) Line: Brown by 1. 6:00 PM ET (Game 619-620) Just because Cornell covered one game doesn't mean that I'm going to stop betting against them. They stink. College Basketball Pick: Brown 74, Cornell 61 Brown -1 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 Cornell 91, Brown 70 Friday, February 4, 2011 (0-1, -$330) Cornell (4-14) at Yale (9-9) Line: Yale by 4.5. 7:00 PM ET I've been betting against this Cornell team all year because the public doesn't understand how bad they are. Everyone remembers last year's trip to the Sweet 16, but this team really sucks this season. Michigan (13-9) at Ohio State (23-0) Line: Ohio State by 16.5. 7:00 PM ET This is a big rivalry, so it should be a close game. Ohio State is undefeated, but they've barely beaten some teams lately, which leads me to believe that this spread is inflated. Michigan, meanwhile, has lost only one contest by more than 16 points since Dec. 28. College Basketball Pick: Ohio State 78, Michigan 67 Michigan +16.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Ohio State 62, Michigan 53 Pepperdine (9-15) at Saint Mary's (18-4) Line: Saint Mary's by 21. 7:00 PM ET Saint Mary's has been favored by 20-plus points three times this season, and is 0-3 ATS in those games. Saint Mary's has also dropped two of three, so I like Pepperdine to cover. Pepperdine has won two of three. College Basketball Pick: Saint Mary's 82, Pepperdine 70 Pepperdine +21 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Saint Mary's 79, Pepperdine 71 Wednesday, February 2, 2011 (2-0, +$500) Marquette (14-8) at Villanova (17-4) Line: Villanova by 6. 7:00 PM ET Villanova is playing like crap like now; it looks like they're beginning their annual late-season swoon. Marquette always plays the Wildcats tough; the Golden Eagles are 8-2 ATS against Villanova in their previous 10 matchups. Utah (10-11) at UNLV (16-5) Line: UNLV by 15.5. 10:30 PM ET This spread is just out of control. UNLV has beaten only one team (crappy TCU) by more than 12 points since Dec. 30. Utah, meanwhile, has only been blown out once since early December (against BYU). The Utes even played undefeated San Diego State tough, losing by just nine points. Penn State (12-8) at Illinois (14-7) Line: Illinois by 8. 9:00 PM ET Penn State is playing much better than Illinois right now. The Nittany Lions are 4-2 in their previous six games, with the two losses coming in the final few seconds. The Illini, meanwhile, have dropped four of five. College Basketball Pick: Illinois 65, Penn State 62 Penn State +8 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Illinois 68, Penn State 51 Monday, January 31, 2011 (0-1, -$330) Canisius (10-10) at Fairfield (16-4) Line: Fairfield by 10. Canisius is 6-3 in its previous nine games, and none of those three losses have been by more than eight points. As for Fairfield, their record is impressive, but they haven't won by more than eight points themselves since early January. Indiana (11-10) at Michigan State (12-8) Line: Michigan State by 11. People can't accept the fact that Michigan State sucks. The Spartans have lost three in a row, and the last team they beat by double figures was Prairie View A&M on Dec. 18. Indiana, meanwhile, is playing with a ton of confidence right now. College Basketball Pick: Michigan State 74, Indiana 71 Indiana +11 (3 Units) -- Correct; +$300 Michigan State 84, Indiana 83 Saturday, January 29, 2011 (3-0, +$700) Northern Illinois (7-11) at Buffalo (11-6) Line: Buffalo by 13.5. This spread is way too high. Buffalo has just one win of more than 13 points since Dec. 11. Meanwhile, Northern Illinois has won three of five, and the team hasn't lost to anyone by more than nine points since they visited ranked Missouri on Dec. 27. Columbia (11-5) at Harvard (13-3) Line: Harvard by 11. Both Columbia and Harvard are pretty good Ivy League teams, so I don't get why this spread is so high. College Basketball Pick: Harvard 74, Columbia 70 Columbia +11 (2 Units) -- Push; $0 Harvard 77, Columbia 66 Thursday, January 27, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Tennessee State (10-9) at Morehead State (13-8) Line: Morehead State by 10.5. Eastern Michigan sucked yesterday, but Rutgers was the right side. They led in the second half, but lost the spread because their idiot coach asked his players to start fouling with three minutes left. Cincinnati naturally hit every single free throw down the stretch. Ugh. I'm always a fan of Morehead, but I'm taking Tennessee State today. The Tigers have won four in a row, while the Eagles haven't scored more than 50 points in two weeks. College Basketball Pick: Morehead State 58, Tennessee State 56 Tennessee State +10.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Moreheard State 72, Tennessee State 65 Wednesday, January 26, 2011 (0-2, -$550) Eastern Michigan (5-13) at Ohio (8-10) Line: Ohio by 10. Does Ohio deserve to be favored by 10? The Bobcats are 1-5 in their previous six games and 2-7 in their past nine. Eastern Michigan, meanwhile, is coming off a win. They have only one loss of more than nine points in the past month and a half. Rutgers (12-7) at Cincinnati (17-3) Line: Cincinnati by 10.5. This line is really inflated because of Cincinnati's bogus record. The Bearcats have predictably struggled in Big East play, losing three of their previous five. Rutgers, meanwhile, is 8-5 in its past 13 games. UNC-Wilmington (10-9) at Old Dominion (14-5) Line: Old Dominion by 14.5. This spread is out of control. UNC-Wilmington 5-3 in its previous eight games, while Old Dominion is coming off a loss. And check out Old Dominion's margins of victory since Dec. 9: 3, 9, 4, 15, 4, 11, 6. College Basketball Pick: Old Dominion 65, UNC-Wilmington 63 UNC-Wilmington +14.5 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 Old Dominion 58, UNC-Wilmington 43 Sunday, January 23, 2011 (1-0, +$300) South Florida (7-13) at West Virginia (12-5) Line: West Virginia by 13. I completely disagree with this spread. South Florida hasn't lost by more than 12 points all year. Meanwhile, West Virginia has just one blowout since Dec. 7. Here are their margins of victory in that span: 4, 30, 6, 2, 11, 3. College Basketball Pick: West Virginia 75, South Florida 69 South Florida +13 (3 Units) -- Correct; +$300 West Virginia 56, South Florida 46 Saturday, January 22, 2011 (2-1, +$280) Tennessee (12-6) at Connecticut (15-2) Line: Connecticut by 6.5. I know this Tennessee team. They play hard when they want (i.e. when they're underdogs). They beat Pitt, yet they lose to teams like College of Charleston and Oakland. They're 3-0 against the spread as underdogs. They'll get up for Kemba Walker. Columbia (10-5) at Cornell (4-11) Line: Cornell by 4.5. I'm going to keep betting against Cornell. They're overvalued because of last year's NCAA Tournament run. College Basketball Pick: Columbia 75, Cornell 66 Columbia +4.5 (3 Units) -- Correct; +$300 Columbia 70, Cornell 66 Indiana State (12-7) at Wichita State (15-4) Line: Wichita State by 11. This line is too high. Wichita State is coming off a loss, while Indiana State has won six in a row. Larry Bird's old school should cover this number. College Basketball Pick: Wichita State 73, Indiana State 67 Indiana State +11 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Wichita State 93, Indiana State 83 Friday, January 21, 2011 (1-0, +$200) Wisconsin-Green Bay (10-9) at Butler (13-6) Line: Butler by 14.5. Butler's reputation has inflated this spread; I don't think the Bulldogs are two touchdowns better than Wisconsin-Green Bay. Butler is coming off a loss, and Green Bay doesn't get blown out often. They even stayed within 14 against Wisconsin earlier in the year. College Basketball Pick: Butler 74, Wisconsin-Green Bay 67 Wisconsin-Green Bay +14.5 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Butler 81, Wisconsin-Green Bay 75 Thursday, January 20, 2011 (1-1, -$130) West Carolina (8-10) at College of Charleston (12-6) Line: College of Charleston by 10.5. This spread is way too high. West Carolina has won four in a row, while College of Charleston is coming off a loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga. In fact, Charleston has just one victory of more than four points since Dec. 31. College Basketball Pick: College of Charleston 75, West Carolina 70 West Carolina +10.5 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 College of Charleston 93, West Carolina 64 Tennessee Tech (8-8) at Austin Peay (12-7) Line: Austin Peay by 13.5. Another high line. Austin Peay is coming off a loss to 8-9 Tennessee State, as well as two other close wins. They have just one win of more than 10 points against a Division I opponent since Dec. 18. Tennessee Tech, meanwhile, is 4-2 in its previous six games, with the losses coming by 12 and 7 points. East Carolina (9-8) at Central Florida (14-2) Line: Central Florida by 12.5. Central Florida's record is a farce. Check out their previous four games: Loss at Southern Miss by 17; loss at Houston by 5; Won vs. Marshall by 7; Won vs. Princeton by 6. Does this sound like a team that deserves to be a 12.5-point favorite? East Carolina, meanwhile, hasn't lost a game by more than 12 points since Dec. 7. College Basketball Pick: Central Florida 75, East Carolina 69 East Carolina +12.5 (3 Units) -- Correct; +$300 East Carolina 74, Central Florida 62 George Washington (10-7) at Richmond (13-5) Line: Richmond by 14. Another spread that's way too high. George Washington has won five of six going into this game, with the one loss by five points. College Basketball Pick: Richmond 73, George Washington 67 George Washington +14 (2 Units) -- Correct; +$200 Richmond 68, George Washington 58 Tuesday, January 18, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Clemson (13-4) at North Carolina (12-5) Line: North Carolina by 5.5. It's amazing how North Carolina continues to be overrated. They don't cover any of their games because the oddsmakers keep setting the line too high, perhaps thinking that bettors expect them to bounce back. Well, it doesn't appear as though they will. Clemson's the better and hotter team. College Basketball Pick: North Carolina 72, Clemson 70 Clemson +5.5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 North Carolina 75, Clemson 65 Monday, January 17, 2011 (0-1, -$220) Kansas State (13-5) at Missouri (15-3) Line: Missouri by 5. Remember when Kansas State was a top-five team coming into the season? Well, they've lost some games and have become undervalued. Missouri's record is inflated, and I believe Kansas State is the better team. College Basketball Pick: Kansas State 70, Missouri 64 Kansas State +5 (2 Units) -- Incorrect; -$220 Missouri 75, Kansas State 59 Sunday, January 16, 2011 (0-1, -$330) Eastern Michigan (4-11) at Western Michigan (8-7) Line: Western Michigan by 10.5. This is a strange line; Eastern Michigan hasn't lost by double digits since Dec. 5, so I think they'll cover. College Basketball Pick: Western Michigan 71, Eastern Michigan 65 Eastern Michigan +10.5 (3 Units) -- Incorrect; -$330 Western Michigan 65, Eastern Michigan 48 Saturday, January 15, 2011 (3-1, +$370) UCLA (10-6) at Oregon (8-9) Line: UCLA by 4. Two reasons why I like Oregon: First, UCLA is overrated this year. And second, I don't see how any team can win on Oregon's new court. It's like Boise State's blue turf.
By Larry Getlen July 10, 2016 Michael Richards, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander pose at the Emmy Awards in 1993.Photo: AP Ask any self-respecting “Seinfeld” fan who the worst dancer on the show — heck, in the world — is, and they’ll immediately think of Elaine Benes’ herky-jerk performance from Season 8’s “The Little Kicks.” Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) boogied so awkwardly at a work function, it endangered her professional reputation. But most people don’t know her dance was inspired by “Saturday Night Live” boss Lorne Michaels. The story is told by “Seinfeld” writer Spike Feresten, who started out as an “SNL” receptionist, in the new book “Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything” (Simon & Schuster) by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Feresten’s job at “SNL” included manning the door at the show’s notorious afterparties. At one such gathering, he told Armstrong, he saw Michaels “dancing as if he’d never seen another human being dance before. The man heaved and gyrated to a rhythm only he could feel.” To his delight, Feresten “even got to give Louis-Dreyfus a little dance lesson during production, schooling her in the singular Michaels method.” “Seinfeldia” tells the complete tale of this New York institution (actually filmed in LA), which finished either first or second in the ratings for five years straight, from 1994 to 1998, and in 2002 was proclaimed by TV Guide the greatest television show of all time. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David conceived “Seinfeld” in November 1988. After performing at the Upper East Side comedy club Catch a Rising Star, the two ventured into nearby Lee’s Market and began riffing on some of its obscure items, like Korean jelly. “Why, exactly, did it have to come in jelly form?” they mused. “Was there also, perhaps, a foam or a spray?” “This is the kind of discussion you don’t see on TV,” noted David. By this time, stand-up comic Seinfeld was a hit on late-night talk shows, and his manager, George Shapiro, had been hounding NBC executives about getting his client a show on the network. But when he finally secured the much-desired meeting, Seinfeld felt differently. “He was a little annoyed at this meeting screwing up his whole afternoon,” writes Armstrong. “He’d become a comedian partly to have his days free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This meeting was at 5:15 p.m., cutting right into his free time, but he sucked it up and went anyway.” NBC wanted a show concept from Seinfeld, so he worked with David to develop the idea they had at Lee’s. They quickly agreed the main characters should be Seinfeld and a David-type — who became Jason Alexander’s George Costanza — plus a neighbor. Luckily, David’s own “eccentric” neighbor was Kenny Kramer, “a jobless schemer with whom David shared a car, a TV and one pair of black slacks in case either had a special occasion.” As complementary weirdos, David and Kramer couldn’t have been better matched, and that is how “Seinfeld” evolved. “David and Kramer would leave their doors open so they could wander in and out of each other’s places at their leisure,” writes Armstrong. “Kramer wore a bathrobe as he grazed in David’s refrigerator while David watched Knicks and Yankees games. Kramer would ask the score, then leave again.” At times, the two sound like a married couple. “David would cook for comedian friends, promise them dessert — meaning ice-cream bars — then scream at Kramer when he found the bars were missing. ‘It’s embarrassing!’ he would yell. ‘I have company!’ ” Michael Richards was the perfect actor to play Kramer. Richards had worked with David on the late-night ABC sketch show “Fridays,” and from Armstrong’s account, he was just as odd as his character. “On ‘Fridays,’ he was known for his one strange contract demand,” Armstrong writes. “Give him a thousand pounds of dirt on the set, he said, and he’d do the show.” (The dirt was for a one-man tour-de-force sketch featuring Richards as a kid playing with toy soldiers and annihilating them.) Richards’ performance as Kramer was so frantic that the crew kept extra hinges handy, in case he destroyed a door during one of his character’s manic entrances. It created problems, though, since Richards’ antics made his castmates laugh during filming and break his focus. Armstrong writes: “When Alexander laughed during a scene . . . Richards begged, ‘You can’t, please. You don’t know how hard it is for me.’ (Because the laughter meant they had to reshoot the scene.)” Because of Richards’ intensity and immersion in the role, his co-stars, writes Armstrong, “didn’t feel like they knew him, even later, after years on the set together.” Alexander and Louis-Dreyfus — both of whom were concerned early on about the show’s lack of conventional plot lines — had their own problems: Each believed they weren’t getting enough screen time. Alexander — who initially modeled George on Woody Allen, only to realize in Season 2 that he was playing David — was worried that George, Jerry’s best friend and confidante, would have a diminished role due to Jerry’s strong connection with Elaine. His anxiety peaked in Season 3, when the third episode, “The Pen,” featured only Jerry and Elaine visiting Jerry’s parents in Florida. Alexander and Richards had no roles in the episode. For Alexander — who, as a Tony-winning actor, had other options — it was the final straw. After the episode’s table read, he pulled David aside. “‘If you write me out again,’ he said, ‘do it permanently.’ David tried to explain the difficulties of servicing every character equally every week. ‘Don’t tell me your problems,’ Alexander snapped. ‘If you don’t need me here, I don’t want to be here.’ ” Louis-Dreyfus was no happier, feeling “she wasn’t getting material as funny as the boys.” All this almost became moot. As the writers and cast sought their unified voice, NBC was ready to cut “Seinfeld” loose. The network hadn’t been comfortable with the show early on, given its meanness and intentional dismissal of character growth. Even late-night boss Rick Ludwin and his programming associate, Jeremiah Bosgang — the show’s strongest supporters at NBC — were stumped by the second season’s “The Chinese Restaurant,” which featured the cast waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant in real time, and nothing else. The two execs couldn’t understand how they would rationalize a plotless episode to their bosses and considered ending production. Ludwin talked gingerly to David, expressing their concerns, while David vented that the episode was “in the spirit of the show.” Despite their reservations — and to their credit — the execs allowed the episode to proceed. The day after it aired, the reviews were effusive, and in time, it was seen as “a groundbreaking bit of television.” As the show became a success, the cast found themselves in strange situations, including a bizarre feud with Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold. After Louis-Dreyfus inadvertently parked in Arnold’s spot on the CBS studio lot (where the show was filmed), Arnold left a note on her windshield saying, “How stupid are you? Move your f—ing car, you a–hole!” After she, Alexander and David confronted him, she later found “a Polaroid of someone’s buttocks left on her windshield and the word ‘c–t’ written in soap” there. The scuffle went public. “Barr called Louis-Dreyfus a bitch on ‘Letterman,’ then added derisively, ‘They think they’re doing Samuel Beckett instead of a sitcom.” Asked about the incident later, Alexander commented, “I am willing to bet that she has never read anything Beckett ever wrote.” An exhausted David, the show’s primary force behind the scenes, left the show after Season 7, with Seinfeld running it solo for the final two. NBC offered Seinfeld an astounding $5 million an episode to do a 10th, but the comic — who already earned $1 million an episode in Season 9 and was tremendously wealthy — felt he and the show had gone as far as they could. “Seinfeld” ended, after nine seasons, on May 14, 1998, with an episode that found the cast in jail for failing to help a man in need. The show turned its cast into New York City icons. But, as they learned the hard way, New Yorkers were just as quick to keep them humble as they were to treat them like A-list stars. “The four core cast members decided to go out for dinner,” Armstrong writes of an outing the group made after being photographed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1993. The show had been on the air three years. “They wanted to sit outside, and they figured people were going to freak out when they saw the four of them together, outside, in New York, right on Columbus Avenue. But no one stopped except for a homeless man asking for money.”
General ecology students installed two camera traps in the Lehigh University Experimental Forest. The image tally after recording for about six weeks: one fox, one raccoon, one chipmunk, 2 domestic cats, 18 squirrels, and 38 deer. Some highlights… We have completed two weeks of wetland ecology at Pymatuning Lab of Ecology… only one more week to go. The Pymatuning wetlands spent the morning discussing freshwater marshes, swamps, and riparian wetlands. We examined vegetation dynamics, food web structure, and biogeochemistry of each of these wetland types, paying particular attention to similarities and differences. Our discussion of the vegetation dynamics of freshwater marshes highlighted the importance of seed banks, climate variability, and herbivores like muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) in controlling interannual-to-multidecadal scale ecological changes in these systems. The topic turned out to be quite appropriate for today, given the results from our camera traps in the afternoon. We then went over the midterm exam, spending a considerable amount of time working through the details of how nitrogen cycling occurs in the context of the aerobic and anaerobic layers of wetlands. The students all promised that they would study the details of the nitrogen cycle, and other biogeochemical cycles in wetlands, if these will reappear on the final exam. I won’t disappoint. We then went to Pymatuning Creek Marsh to collect the shallow wells that we installed last week to record water-level fluctuations within different vegetation zones. We also collected the camera traps. Clearly white-tailed deer occasionally use the marsh, but the students were particularly pleased that they captured video of a muskrat. There was clear evidence of them in the marsh, as there often is marsh environments; however, they tend to be active at night or around dusk so they are not often seen. The video is embedded below. And a raccoon…. A few students have started using twitter to share photos from our fieldwork using the hashtag #PLEwetlands. These will also be retweeted through @LehighEcology and some will be embedded into these daily summaries. Morning lecture was focused on formal wetland classification systems, with a focus on those used in North America. Admittedly, formal wetland classification schemes are not that exciting, but everyone must have had enough coffee, or ate enough of made-to-order eggs at breakfast, to make it through. After an overview of Cowardin et al. classification system (used by the Fish and Wildlife Service), we took a much-needed walk to some wetlands right outside the classroom. There the students applied their knowledge by fully classifying two wetland areas. We were lucky enough to observe some red-winged blackbird chicks (Agelaius phoeniceus), although mom and dad were not at all pleased that we were nearby. After a overview of wetland hydrology, we got our waders from the PLE stockroom and headed to Morgan Swamp in Ohio. There, Karen Adair gave us an overview of the preserve and the mission of the Nature Conservancy, and also provided some advice for students interested in conservation and environmental science careers. We then took a hike through a really spectacular mosaic of swamp and mesic forest, dominated by American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). I had never done this hike before and it was very much worth it; a few of the beech trees were as large as some of the old growth trees I have seen. We also observed a large eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) along the trail. We then put on waders and entered the preserve from another location, where we examined a 14-year old mitigation wetland, a series of vernal pools, and a large marsh and shrub-swamp. Crossing the mitigation wetland proved to be challenging, and 7 out of 8 of us went deeper than our waders were designed for. Nothing says wetland ecology like a student hollering, “I’m taking on water!” while other students snap pictures. We observed a number of wetland plants, and added a few to the “must-know” list including Sphagnum, reed-canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), moneywort or creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), common spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris) and three-way sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum). I’m looking forward to installing a few wells and camera traps tomorrow at Pymatuning Creek Marsh, and beginning our plant collections. “A few short weeks of complete immersion in the study of ecology at PLE changed the course of my life.” – Dr. Alex Ireland (Alex took general ecology at PLE in summer 2005 and went on to earn his PhD from Lehigh University in 2012) The Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE) is a field station in western Pennsylvania that is operated by the University of Pittsburgh. Each summer the station offers approximately a dozen field-intensive ecology courses, spanning much of the breadth of the ecological sciences, to students from participating schools throughout the region. Lehigh University joined the PLE educational consortium in 2014, and four Lehigh students enrolled in five of the field station’s classes this past summer. I asked these students to share some thoughts on their experience for the benefit of other Lehigh students, and with permission I summarize their comments below. Bob Mason took the forest ecology course, taught by Dr. Walter Carson of the University of Pittsburgh. Almost all class time was spent in the field for hands-on lectures where the class learned about forest ecosystems and the major threats to forest biodiversity. Field trips to old-growth stands, camping overnight in the Allegheny National Forest, and guest lectures on related ecological topics such as riparian zone restoration and migratory birds were some of the highlights. In Bob’s own words: The workload appeared heavy from the syllabus (two “full-blown” scientific papers and a final exam), and I did find the course to be challenging. However, it was absolutely worth the effort and I gained real-world insight into data collection, statistics, and scientific writing. This course was truly writing intensive! However, I still found myself with ample down time to enjoy with other students, and it was fun to meet students from a diverse group of universities. I strongly recommend the course to anyone interested in ecological research. Ecology of Fungi Charlotte Malmborg took the ecology of fungi course, which was a new offering taught by Dr. Shannon Nix of Clarion University. The students were in the field everyday, identifying fungi and learning about fungal biology, taxonomy, and ecology. Samples were returned to the lab, and the students learned microscopy techniques that enabled them to better identify and examine adaptations of fungi. The class collectively undertook a research project comparing the amount and diversity of mycorrhizae between old-growth and secondary-growth hemlock forests. Charlotte clearly had a fantastic experience (assuming her twitter feed from May is representative! e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and learned a tremendous amount about a topic that is not taught at Lehigh University. Wetland Ecology and Management Charlotte Malmborg also took the wetland ecology course. I teach this course, so I told her that she didn’t have to share her thoughts on it, but she chose to anyway. Here is an excerpt from her: If you’re ready to get down and dirty this class is for you. From floating bogs to marshes to swamps, you’ll get to visit and learn about the biota and ecological processes in these unique systems, as well as the ecosystem services that they provide. You’ll learn more about mud than you ever thought possible, and you’ll be happy about it! Chandler Navara took the disease ecology course, a new course taught by Dr. Thomas Simmons from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In Chandler’s words: The disease ecology class explored wildlife and plant diseases and their connection to human populations. Some of the diseases included Lyme disease, malaria, and rabies. From parasites, to vectors, to hosts, the ecological context of these diseases were examined, with a focus on how knowledge of ecology can be used to help control these diseases. We developed expertise in different field techniques used to sample disease vectors. The class was definitely worth every minute, and I made some lifelong friends at PLE! Kris Abens took the Wildlife Management course, which was taught by Morty Ortega of the University of Connecticut during the last session of the summer. Some of Kris’s comments about the class: The professor was great and a really nice guy. It was an amazing experience and I learned SO much, and amazingly, virtually none of the learning took place inside a classroom! We worked hard in this class, but it was very much worth it. I would definitely recommend the class to other students. Interested in taking a PLE field course this summer? PLE courses are fun, full-immersion experiences. Each course lasts for three weeks, is worth three credits, and covers the material in a semester-long course. All of them are field-based and satisfy the BS field requirement for Lehigh University EES students. The courses are distributed across four sessions, and although you can take multiple courses during the summer, you can only take one course per session (each course meets all day). Courses offered for Lehigh credit in summer 2015 include: - Conservation Biology (11 May – 29 May) - Forest Ecology (11 May – 29 May) - Field Botany (11 May– 29 May) - Behavioral Ecology (1 Jun – 19 Jun) - Wetland Ecology (1 Jun – 19 Jun) - Ecology of Birds (1 Jun – 19 Jun) - Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles (1 Jun – 19 Jun) - Disease Ecology (22 Jun – 10 Jul) - Limnology (22 Jun – 10 Jul) - Field Techniques in Ecology and Conservation (13 Jul – 31 Jul) - Wildlife Management (13 Jul – 31 Jul) For additional information on these courses see:http://www.biology.pitt.edu/facilities/pymatuning/courses/course-schedule I teach the wetland ecology course and if you are interested in taking this class or one of the courses offered during the same session (1 Jun – 19 Jun), transportation to and from the field station will be provided from Lehigh University. To see more details about the wetland ecology course go here:https://sites.google.com/site/wetlandecologymanagement/syllabus To see more of the kind of FUN we have in this course go here: https://amongthestatelytrees.wordpress.com/category/wetland-ecology-management-ple/ For a Lehigh University student to take one of these classes, you will need to register for EES 395: Field courses at Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. The sections of the course will correspond to the list of classes above, so that you can sign up for the particular course of interest to you. Email me ([email protected]) if you have questions. More data from the Lehigh Experimental Forest camera traps. Our complete list of “trapped” species since October now includes: - Buteo jamaicensis (Red-tailed hawk) - Canis lupus familiaris (Domestic dog) - Felis catus (Domestic cat) - Homo sapiens (Human) - Marmota monax (groundhog) - Meleagris gallopavo (wild turkey) - Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed deer) - Procyon lotor (Raccoon) - Sciurus carolinensis (Gray squirrel) - Sylvilagus floridanus (Eastern cottontail) - Tamias striatus (Eastern chipmunk) - Turdus migratorius (American Robin) - Vulpes vulpes (Red fox) A few highlights from the two video cameras (wild turkey at the end!): Today we continued discussing wetland hydrology, with a particular focus on ways that biota influence the hydrology of wetlands. This led to an examination of peatland hydrology, where the characteristics of the peat (e.g., botanical composition, degree of decomposition) have large effects on the hydrology of the ecosystem. We spent the afternoon at Pymatuning Creek Marsh in nearby Ohio, where we installed a few surface wells along a vegetation gradient in the marsh and the students began learning some common wetland plants and starting their plant collections. The running “must-know” plant list has begun! Some student pictures: A 2-minute video advertising a course in wetland ecology offered this June! Information about the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology for Lehigh University students The wetland ecology course, featured in the video above, and the other courses offered at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE) represent a fantastic opportunity to gain knowledge in field ecology this summer. These courses are fun, full-immersion experiences that cover a diverse array of ecological topics. Each course lasts for three weeks, is worth three credits, and covers the material in a semester-long course. All of them are field-based and satisfy the BS field requirement for Lehigh University EES students. The courses are distributed across four, 3-week sessions, and although you can take multiple courses during the summer, you can only take one course per session (each course meets all day). Courses offered this summer include: Conservation Biology (12 May – 30 May) Forest Ecology (12 May – 30 May) Ecology of Fungi (12 May – 30 May) Field Botany (2 Jun – 20 Jun) Wetland Ecology (2 Jun – 20Jun) Ecology of Birds (2 Jun – 20 Jun) Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles (2 Jun – 20 Jun) Disease Ecology (23 Jun – 11 Jul) Ecology of Fish (23 Jun – 11 Jul) Field Techniques in Ecology and Conservation (14 Jul – 1 Aug) Wildlife Management (14 Jul – 1 Aug) For additional information on these courses see: http://www.biology.pitt.edu/facilities/pymatuning/courses/course-schedule I teach the wetland ecology course and if you are interested in taking this class or one of the courses offered during the same session (2 Jun – 20 Jun), transportation to and from the field station will be provided from Lehigh University. To see more details about the wetland ecology course go here: https://sites.google.com/site/wetlandecologymanagement/syllabus To see more of the kind of FUN we have in this course go here: https://amongthestatelytrees.wordpress.com/category/wetland-ecology-management-ple/ For a Lehigh University student to take one of these classes, you will need to register for EES 395: Field courses at Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. The sections of the course will correspond to the list of classes above, so that you can sign up for the particular course of interest to you. Go here to sign up: https://cf.lehigh.edu/summer/?page=summer&year=2014. Email me ([email protected]) if you have questions. More data from the Lehigh Experimental Forest camera traps have arrived. Our complete list of “trapped” species since October 2013 now includes: Buteo jamaicensis (Red-tailed hawk) Canis lupus familiaris (Domestic dog) Felis catus (Domestic cat) Homo sapiens (Human) Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed deer) Procyon lotor (Raccoon) Sciurus carolinensis (Gray squirrel) Sylvilagus floridanus (Eastern cottontail) Tamias striatus (Eastern chipmunk) Turdus migratorius (American Robin) Vulpes vulpes (Red fox)
ANC PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS MID-YEAR STATEMENT The National Assembly will as from tomorrow break for an extended constituency period after a very fruitful first and second quarter of the fifth parliament. The first half of this year in Parliament has been nothing but extraordinary. We began our parliamentary year with a historical political transition which led to the election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as the fifth democratically elected President of the Republic of South Africa. The election of President Ramaphosa ushered in a new dawn which has brought about a renewed commitment to better serve the people of South Africa. This year has also been a time for great sadness for the ANC Parliamentary Caucus. We lost three very dedicated and formidable female leaders of our Caucus. Comrade Fezeka Loliwe passed on in the line of duty doing constituency work in Fort Beaufort, in the Eastern Cape; whilst Cde’s Beatrice Ngcobo and Mam’ Winnie Madikizela-Mandela succumbed to illness. We also lost a former member of Caucus, comrade Zola Skweyiya in April. Since 2014, the ANC Parliamentary Caucus has lost a total of 10 members, namely, comrade Timothy Khoza (2017); comrade Trevor Bonhomme (2017); comrade Bonisile Nesi (2016); comrade Raesibe Nyalungu (2016); comrade Hlakudi Frans Nkoana (2015); comrade Nosipho Ntwanambi (2014) and Yolanda Botha (2014). The contributions of these comrades in the struggle against apartheid and their service to the people of South Africa will forever remain in our hearts. This year the National Assembly passed a historic resolution that the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) of Parliament, reviews Section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses where necessary, to sufficiently cater for the principle of land expropriation without compensation. This resolution, informed by the resolution of the 54th National Conference of the ANC is a bold step towards addressing the original sin of land dispossession and landlessness. The CRC recently held a colloquium engaging stakeholders on the matter. We encourage members of the public to make submissions to this committee before the closing date which is tomorrow, 15 June. The CRC will thereafter conduct public hearings in all nine provinces from 27 June to 4 August and report back to Parliament in September. 2. An Activist Parliament Through Enhanced Oversight The realisation of the ANC's policy to radically improve the material conditions of our people require an activist parliament which conducts parliamentary oversight in a vigorous robust manner without fear or favour. This was demonstrated through various members of the executive being called to account to Parliament on matters of national importance and public interest. The Eskom Inquiry conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises exposed the poor state of corporate governance at our power utility. This inquiry, which conducted proceedings well into early hours of the following morning, is an example of parliamentary oversight at its zenith. We thank ANC members of parliament for leading the charge and remaining unrepentant against maladministration and intimidation. The uncovering of malfeasance at Eskom has resulted in the appointment of a new board and senior executives who are steering the entity in a new direction. This would not have been possible had it not been for the vociferous nature in which the committee engaged with the matter, and for that we salute members of that committee. We eagerly await the adoption of this report by the National Assembly plenary when we return in the third quarter of the year. Following Cabinet’s decision to put all provincial departments and certain municipalities under administration in the North West Province, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is currently ceased with ratifying that decision, and to this end, an Ad Hoc Committee has been formed. The Ad Hoc Committee received its first briefing from the Inter-Ministerial Committee in Parliament today. The NCOP also held a report back session in April to report on progress made since its provincial visit to the Eastern Cape last year. The next report back session is scheduled for August in the Free State. The ANC has recently undergone a process of filling of vacancies and further strengthening our oversight work through the deployment and redeployment of various comrades to serve as Committee Chairperson and Whips of ANC Study Groups (made up of ANC MPs in portfolio committees). We have no doubt that our newly reconfigured structures of Caucus will successfully lead us to the end of this fifth democratic Parliament. 3. Holding the Executive Accountable As an oversight mechanism, the rules of Parliament dictate that the Executive must appear before Parliament to answer oral questions. President Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza made 6 appearances in both houses of parliament to reply to 36 oral questions. Ministers and Deputy Ministers replied to 199 oral questions in the National Assembly and NCOP. Both houses of Parliament submitted a total 2316 written questions to the Executive, of which 2143 were replied to, with the outstanding 173 questions standing over until parliament resumes. This is a whopping 92.5% accountability rate of the Executive to Parliament. Parliament also interrogated ministers on their departmental budget votes in mini-plenary sessions held in the National Assembly and Policy Debates in the NCOP. These gruelling sessions were characterised by robust engagement between parliamentarians and members of the Executive. The National Assembly successfully passed the Appropriations Bill-2018 at the end of May with the NCOP currently interacting with the Bill scheduled for adoption at the end of June. We comment the Executive for the commitment they have shown in accounting to Parliament and equally commend parliamentarians for ensuring that the Executive is held accountable. 4. Legislative Work As part of its law-making function, parliament processed 13 Bills in the National Assembly since February this year. This includes the Division of Revenue Bill which provides for the equitable division of revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of government for the 2018/19 ﬁnancial year. Among other pieces of legislation processed this year, three historic Bills stand out, namely the Political Party Funding Bill, the Public Audit Amendment Bill and the National Minimum Wage Bill. For the first time since the advent of democracy, the Political Party Funding Bill obliges political parties to be transparent about their sources of funding. The Bill also limits the amount individuals or entities can donate to any one political party and outlaws all donations from foreign donors, governments and their agencies. The Bill will also ensure that political parties are adequately funded in a predictable and transparent manner. Another ground-breaking legislation passed this year is the Public Audit Amendment Bill. This Bill empowers the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) to act against accounting officers who are found to have acted contrary to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and other pieces of legislation through overspending, fraud and corruption from the public purse. Informed by the Freedom Charter, the ANC’s 2014 Elections Manifesto pledged to introduce a National Minimum Wage to lift millions of workers out of slave wage exploitation. In its last sitting of the second quarter of the year in May, the National Assembly adopted the National Minimum Wage Bill which legislates a wage floor of R20 per hour or R3500 per month under which no worker should be paid. The National Minimum Wage is a historic step towards our mission of a living wage for all workers in South Africa. 5. International Engagements As part of the ANCs commitment to the development of the African Continent and international work, the ANC deployed comrade Thandi Modise, comrade Thoko Didiza and comrade iNkosi Zwelivelile Mandela to represent the RSA Parliament at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). Led by comrade Thandi Modise as the leader of the delegation, our RSA delegation was sworn in and participated in the sixth ordinary session of the PAP in May 2018. Among the various other international trips undergone by various structures of parliament in the first half of the year, the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans together with the Joint Standing Committee on Defence conducted a successful joint oversight visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in April. The purpose of the oversight visit was for the two committees to interact with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) peacekeepers in a foreign deployment area. Our Parliament was also represented by a delegation led by the Speaker at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva in March. We are currently preparing for the 49th Annual Africa Region Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) scheduled to take place in Botswana in August. 6. Constituency Work The adopted framework of the parliamentary programme for 2018 extends the upcoming constituency period for the National Assembly by an extra three weeks (from 18 June to 13 August) as compared to the previous year. This extension means that parliamentarians will spend 33% of their overall parliamentary programme conducting constituency work. This move brings us closer to the attainment of a 50/50% balance between parliamentary sessions and parliamentary constituency work. This decision takes forward the 2016 ANC Midterm Review Caucus Lekgotla resolution which stated that Parliament as an institution should revisit its programming in relation to the disproportionate time MPs spend in Parliament as opposed to the time they spend in their constituencies. The unintended consequence of this format is that a gap between MPs and their constituencies is created, which does not bode well for accountability. This extension will therefore allow MPs sufficient time to meaningfully engage with; and instantly intervene in matters afflicting our people as elected public representatives. The work of the ANC in this constituency period will be informed by the call made by the President of the ANC and Republic, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, through the Thuma Mina (Send Me) campaign for all South Africans to lend a hand in improving the lives of others. Members of the ANC Caucus will therefore be rooted in their constituencies engaging and intervening in matters affecting ordinary South Africa in their communities. We have been able to achieve all of the above within this reporting because of parliamentary political management structures such as the Chief Whip’s Forum and the National Assembly Programming Committee. We express our appreciation for the support we have received from Chief Whips of other parties in ensuring a working parliament in the interest of our democracy. We also express our appreciation for the support we have received from the Whips of the ANC and all ANC Members of Parliament in the ANC Parliamentary Caucus. We further thank our ANC Parliamentary Caucus staff for their unwavering support and commitment in helping to advance the work of the ANC in Parliament. We wish the Muslim community a festive Eid Mubarak as they celebrate Eid from this evening. Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, comrade Jackson Mthembu, 14 June 2018
In New York City on West Broadway there is a bookstore affiliated with a Turkish Sufi order. In the summer of 1993, I purchased a few books there, and one of the other customers, a black man wearing a small white cap began talking with me. After exchanging Salams, and after I told him that I was working in Iran, he asked me whether I had ever seen a book by Imam Khomeini called Jihad al-Akbar. I told him that although I was not familiar with the work, I thought that it had been translated by Hamid Algar, and included in his collection of translations of Imam’s speeches, Islam and Revolution (Mizan Press). He was not familiar with that work, but insisted that the Muslims in America had a real need for translations of Imam’s works, and he was particularly interested in Jihad al-Akbar. When I went home, I found that a couple pages of the speeches of Imam which were given in Najaf and later collected under the title Jihad al-Akbar had been translated by Prof. Algar. The following autumn, when I returned to Iran, I found the Jihad al-Akbar had recently published as a small booklet. Remembering the American Muslim I met in the Sufi Bookstore, I decided to make a complete translation of it. Since I lacked the competence in Farsi for such an undertaking, I solicited the assistance of ‘Azim Sarvdalir, with whom I was studying Farsi and doing other translations at Bunyad Baqir al-‘Ulum in Qum. Mr. Sarvdalir was happy to take up the project, which, with the encouragement of the Bunyad, was completed the following June; Al-hamdulillah! This is a work in morals, in Farsi and Arabic, akhlaq. It is not a philosophical work, but a moral exhortation directed toward the seminary students of Najaf, and toward the institution of the seminary, or hawzah ‘ilmiyyah, as well. The work reveals the moral sensitivity of Imam Khomeini, his paternal anxiety regarding the seminarians and his dedication to the institution of the seminary. Upon reading this work one will discover that along the revolutionary fervor and condemnation of foreign imperialism there can be found a mystic’s taste for spiritual devotions. The waters of ‘irfan (gnosis) run deep in the thought of Imam Khomeini and nourish his moral outlook. This work is a testimony to the truth of Shahid Mutahhari’s1 remark that ‘irfan and ethics are both concerned with the improvement of character, but from different perspectives. In ethical works one finds a description of virtues and vices and moral prescriptions and proscriptions, while in ‘irfani works one finds a description of a process through which the soul moves toward Allah and acquires virtues corresponding to the divine attributes along the way. The way of moral reform advocated by Imam Khomeini is a process of spiritual development in which the adept learns to conquer and then lose interest in his worldly desires and become totally devoted to God. This process is described as a journey toward Allah, a journey which holds a central place in ‘irfan, which may be considered the kernel of Islam. This journey is described in different ways and from a variety of viewpoints in the poetry of the Sufis, in the transcendent philosophy of Mulla Sadra, 2 and in the poetry and teachings of Imam Khomeini, as well. Although the present work consists of speeches delivered to the students at Najaf, the moral advice given is particularly pertinent for all Muslims in the contemporary situation of discord and confusion. Imam Khomeini advises the seminarians to abandon their quarrelling, which only serve as an opportunity for mischief on the part of the enemies of Islam. In the Islamic world today, we also observe that the opponents of the Islamic movement take advantage of disputes among Muslims. Imam reminds the students that they do not possess sufficient wealth and power to make these things worth fighting over even according to the standards of materialism. Parallel remarks are appropriate for the Muslim world as a whole, given the poverty and powerlessness which characterized the vast masses of the Islamic ummah. Imam sanctions the students that they should take heed of the fact that the major purpose of the prophets and the Imams has been spiritual progress and moral improvement, and that the students must not content themselves with learning a few terms of Islamic jurisprudence. The same warning should be heeded by contemporary Muslims. We must not content ourselves with a handful of slogans and the performance of a few rituals, but must take steps for spiritual and moral growth. Not merely in the seminary of Najaf, but wherever and to whom ever Islam is taught, this teaching must not confine itself to a rehearsal of basic beliefs and necessary practices, but must be accompanied by the moral and spiritual teachings which were the primary focus of the prophets and the Imams, peace be upon them all. The present work may be read in order to gain insight into the thought of the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. It may be read in order to become familiar with the sort of problems which existed in Najaf at the time the lectures were delivered. It can be read as an example of the type of moral preaching which could be expected from among the best of Shi‘ite moral teachers of this age. It is a work which can be read in order to learn something about history, sociology or anthropology, and in all of these areas valuable lessons are to be learned. But more important than any of these is the moral lessons to be drawn for the Islamic community in general. Let us not content ourselves with ritual duties while ignoring the need for moral reform. Let us appoint moral guides in all of our Islamic educational institutions, so that Islamic education may become more truly a training in submission to Allah, and let us draw upon the example as well as the teachings of the prophets and the Imams so that we may learn to seek to commence the journey of the believer toward Allah, insha Allah! The remainder of this introduction consists of a few biographical remarks with particular reference to the moral and spiritual training of Imam Khomeini, may he rest in peace. Ruhullah Musawi Khomeini, was born in 1902 in the town of Khomein, which is about half way between Tehran and the southwestern city of Ahwaz. Ruhullah’s father and grandfather were religious scholars in Khomein. His father, Ayatullah Mustafa, is said to have been murdered by bandits when Ruhullah was less than six months old. His mother, Hajar, was the daughter of the religious scholar Aqa Mirza Ahmad Mujtahid Khansari. The boy was raised by his mother and an aunt, both of whom died of cholera when he was six. His education was then supervised by his older brother, Ayatullah Pasandideh. At nineteen, Ruhullah traveled northwest from Khomein to the city of Arak, where he became a student of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Ha’eri, a leading religious scholar of his day. The following year, Shaykh Ha’eri and his student Ruhullah moved to Qum, where the Shaykh reorganized and revitalized the entire institution of religious education in that city, which was already famous as a center of learning. Ruhullah studied in Qum until the death of Shaykh Ha’eri, in 1936 after which he began teaching theology, ethics, philosophy, and mysticism. It was during his first fourteen years in Qum that Ayatullah Khomeini became familiar with the intertwined traditions of philosophy and mysticism which flourished during Iran’s Safawid period (16th and 17th centuries) and which continue to exert an enormous influence on contemporary Shi‘ite thought. When he arrived in Qum, Imam Khomeini began to receive private instruction in ethics with Haj Mirza Jawad Maleki Tabrizi, the author of a book entitled, The Secrets of Prayer (Asrar as-Salat), Imam Khomeini also wrote a book on this topic, called The Secret of Prayer: Prayers of the Gnostics or Ascension of the Wayfarers (Sirr as-Salat: Salat al-‘Arifin ya Mi‘raj as-Salikin). His instruction under Mirza Jawad continued until the death of the teacher, in 1925. Imam Khomeini also studied the mystic traditions from Haj Mirza Abu’l-Hasan Rafi’i Qazvini, who was in Qum from 1923 to 1927. Qazvini is known for his commentary on a supplication which is recited daily in the pre-dawn hours during the month of Ramadan. Later, Imam Khomeini would also write a commentary on this prayer. Finally, and perhaps most importantly among his spiritual guides, there was Aqa Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali Shahabadi, the author of Spray from the Seas (Rashahat al-Bahar), who was in Qum from 1928 to 1935. In the mystic tradition of which Shahabadi was a part, the phrase ‘spray from the sea’ may be taken as a symbol for inspiration from God. It was with Shahabadi that Imam Khomeini is reported to have studied the Fusus al-Hikam [Bezels of Wisdom] of Ibn al-‘Arabi 3 (d. 1240) and the important commentary on that work by Qaysari (d. 1350). In 1929, Imam Khomeini married, and a year later his first son, Mustafa, was born. Over the course of the years, two other sons and four daughters were born. Mustafa would grow up to be killed in Iraq by agents of the Shah. The youngest son Sayyid Ahmad, would become a secretary to his father, and afterward, a political leader in his own right. Recalling his years as a student in Qum, Imam Khomeini himself has publicly commented on the hostility toward mysticism and philosophy which was to be found in certain quarters in Qum, feelings which are still harbored by some members of the clergy. The story is often repeated that when Imam had begun teaching philosophy in Qum and his first son was a small child. Some seminarians felt it necessary to perform a ritual cleansing of a cup from which the child had drunk water because of his impurity as the son of a teacher of philosophy! Imam reports that his teacher, Shahabadi, sought to oppose this hostility by making people familiar with the doctrines of the mystics so they could see for themselves that there was nothing inimical to Islam in the teachings of the Gnostics. Once a group of merchants came to see the late Shahabadi (may God have mercy on him), and he began to speak to them on the same mystical topics that he taught to everyone. I asked him whether it was appropriate to speak to them of such matters and he replied: “Let them be exposed just once to these heretical teachings! I too now find it incorrect to divide people into categories and pronounce some incapable of understanding these matters.” One of the most dramatic efforts of Imam Khomeini to bring mysticism to the people occurred after the Islamic Revolution with his Lectures on Surah al-Fatihah from which the above report has been quoted. After the Revolution, there were televised lessons on the interpretation of the Qur’an by Ayatullah Taleqani.4 When Ayatullah Taleqani died on September 10, 1979, about a half year after the victory of the revolution, the televised commentary on the Qur’an was taken up by a younger scholar. Imam Khomeini suggested that a more senior authority might be sought for the program. After consulting among themselves, those responsible for the broadcast decided to request that Imam himself provide the commentary. Imam responded that if the cameras could be brought to his residence he would comply with the request. The result was the Lectures on Surah al-Fatihah, a stunning mystical interpretation of the opening verses of the Qur’an, in which one of the dominant themes was the claim that the whole world is a name of God. In these lectures Imam also contends that the philosophers of Islam, the mystics and the poets have used different terminologies to express the same insights, and he urges his viewers not to reject what is taught by members of these groups until they understand what is being expressed, even if the language used raises suspicions of heterodoxy. Thus, Imam’s preaching in this area was very much a plea for tolerance. Imam Khomeini’s emphasis on tolerance was not limited to mysticism and poetry. Imam Khomeini’s teacher in Islamic jurisprudence, Shaykh Ha’eri, was succeeded in Qum by Ayatullah Burujerdi, who came to be recognized as the supreme authority on the subject. After the death of Ayatullah Burujerdi, in 1961, Imam Khomeini came to be recognized as one of several supreme experts in Islamic jurisprudence, a marja‘-e taqlid. In this role, Imam Khomeini issued a number of decrees which were looked upon with suspicion by more conservative clerics. Many of the religious scholars in both Sunni and Shi‘ite legal schools have ruled that music and chess are forbidden activities. Imam Khomeini ruled that some forms of music are permissible and that playing chess is not contrary to Islamic law. As a result, interest in traditional Iranian music has thrived since the Revolution. Imam Khomeini has also encouraged women to play an expanded role in society, to the chagrin of more conservative interpreters of Islamic law. To Western observers it may seem paradoxical that the very same man who preached tolerance with respect to the perceived challenges to orthodoxy posed by philosophy, mysticism, poetry, and music, should also have been so intolerant toward the proponents of Westernization, toward the form of Marxism propagated in the name of Islam by the People’s Mojahiden Organization (PMOI), and toward those who, like Salman Rushdie, would insult the Prophet of Islam or his family. The apparent contradiction is removed once it is recognized that Imam Khomeini did not value tolerance for its own sake, but for the sake of Islam. Central to Imam Khomeini’s understanding of Islam is gnosis, ‘irfan. In Sunni Islam, the exoteric and esoteric dimensions of religion have been kept largely distinct, with the esoteric mostly confined to the Sufi orders. In Shi‘ite Islam, there has been a long tradition in which many of the practices and teachings of the Sufis have been integrated into the religious life and thought of an important segment of the official clergy. Those form of mysticism, or gnosis, draws upon the Sufi theory of Ibn al-‘Arabi, the philosophical mysticism of Sadr ad-Din Shirazi5 (d. 1640) and Hadi Sabzewari6 (d. 1878), both of whom were Shi‘ite clerics, and the poetic expression of mysticism by Mawlawi Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi7 (d. 1273) and Hafiz 8(d. 1391). The poetry is often set to music. Because of political and religious repression, those involved in ‘irfan often had to keep their teachings underground. Imam Khomeini, in line with sentiments his reports having been expressed by his teacher Shahabadi, sought to initiate a process through which ‘irfan could become public. This process was not to be a sudden revolution. His own works on ‘irfan were not very widely distributed during his lifetime, but a persistent emphasis on the mystical elements of Shi‘te thought were interspersed among the more popular political declaration, and may be found in The Greatest Jihad, as well. The revolutionary Islamic movement led by Imam Khomeini may even be viewed as the exoteric dimension of the impetus to reveal Islamic mysticism to the public. The Islamic revolution was a means to bring Islam into public life, from which it was being marginalized during the reign of the Shah. The process of making Islam central to public life was also resisted by conservative religious groups, who saw in this movement a departure from tradition. Imam Khomeini argued that the guardian jurist of Islamic law had the authority to modify the traditional understanding of the law in order to protect the Islamic order. Conservatives would argue that any break from tradition could only bring deviation from Islamic order. The kind of judgment required by Imam Khomeini’s vision of Islamic government is one which goes beyond what is provided for in traditional discussions of Islamic jurisprudence. It is a kind of wisdom, however, which can be expected of the ‘perfect man’, the insan kamil, the goal of personal development in the mystic tradition. An example of the way in which his political awareness demanded a tolerance not found among more conservative clerics may be found in his attitudes toward Sunni Islam. In traditional Shi‘ite circles it would not be considered permissible for a Shi‘ite to stand behind a Sunni prayer leader. Imam Khomeini ruled that such prayer was valid, and even himself publicly participated in ritual prayer behind a Sunni cleric. Thus, the flexibility and tolerance which characterized Imam Khomeini’s thought do not stem from the libertarian element in Islamic thought, but from a commitment to a movement from the esoteric to exoteric dimensions of Islamic life, a movement which demanded the implementation of Islamic law as well as the propagation of mystical ideas. Imam Khomeini’s attitudes toward mysticism and politics are especially well illustrated by his invitation to President Gorbachev to embrace Islam. On January 7, 1989, Imam Khomeini sent a delegation to Moscow led by Ayatullah Jawad Amuli who presented Imam’s letter of invitation to President Gorbachev. 9 In the letter, Imam Khomeini congratulated Gorbachev for his admission of the failures of communism, and he suggested that the Soviet leader consider the alternative to communist ideology posed by Islam. In order to acquaint the Russian leader with Islam, Imam Khomeini recommended the works of the philosophers Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and the mystic, Ibn al-‘Arabi. Conservative clerics were incensed that Imam should choose to represent Islamic thought through the works of philosophers and a Sufi, instead of works of jurisprudence and traditional devotional literature. President Gorbachev politely declined the invitation to convert, although he said that he would consider the importance of spiritual values in society. Imam Khomeini appears to have been genuinely disappointed that the response was not affirmative, and when a Soviet delegate read Gorbachev’s reply to Imam Khomeini in Tehran. Imam repeatedly interrupted with criticism of the views expressed in the letter. Such unconventional diplomacy demonstrates Imam’s propagation, despite criticism from the clergy which he championed. It also provides an indication of the unusual way in which mysticism and politics were combined in the thinking of Imam Khomeini. Imam wrote several works which treated mystical topics, or which treated topics in a way characteristic of the mystical tradition. Their titles are suggestive: Commentary on the Supplication before Dawn (Sharh ad-Du‘a as-Sahar), The Lamp of Guidance to Vicegerency and Guardianship (Misbah al-Hidayat ala’l-Khilafat wal-Wilayah), The Countenance of Allah (Liqa’ Allah), The Secret of Prayer: Prayers of the Gnostics or Ascension of the Wayfarers (Sirr as-Salat: Salat al-‘Arifin ya Mi‘raj as-Salikin) Annotation to the Commentary on ‘Bezels of Wisdom’ (Ta’liqat ala Sharh al-Fusus al-Hikam), Annotation to the Commentary on ‘The Lamp of Intimacy’ (Ta’liqat ala Sharh al-Misbah al-Uns), Two books of commentaries and annotations to another commentary on a collection of reports regarding the Prophet and Imams called Ras al-Jalut, Lectures on Surah al-Fatihah, Marginalia to ‘The Journeys’ (Hashiyeh ala’l-Asfar), Disciplines of the Prayer (Adab as-Salat), Commentary on Forty Sayings of the Prophet and Imams (Chehel Hadith). After he became a marja‘-e taqlid, political events dominated the life of Imam Khomeini. In 1963, the Shah’s forces massacred thousands who protested against the dictatorship. Imam Khomeini was arrested for his inflammatory speeches and was taken to Tehran. Later he was released with the announcement that he had agreed to refrain from further political activity. He denied that he had made any such agreement and was picked up again. He was taken to an unknown destination by car. When the car turned off the main highway, it is reported that Imam imagined that he would be assassinated in a remote quarter of the desert. He felt his heart to see if it was racing, but found out that it was calm. He narrated that he was never afraid. He was taken to a small airstrip where a plane waited to take him to exile in Turkey. The following year his place of exile was changed to the shrine city of Najaf in southern Iraq. Imam Khomeini remained in Najaf for fourteen years, and it was during these years that the lectures collected under the title, Jihad al-Akbar were delivered. In 1978, the Shah put pressure on the Ba‘athist government in Iraq to expel Ayatullah Khomeini. After being refused asylum at the airport in Kuwait, Imam commented that he would spend his life traveling from one airport to another, but that he would not be keep silence. Finally, he was admitted to France, where he resided at Neauphle-le-Châteaux, outside Paris. In February 1979, he returned triumphantly to Iran and the Islamic Republic was launched. Imam Khomeini was revered for the simplicity of his life-style and for his rigorous attention to even supererogatory details of Islamic ritual. He is said to have always faced Mecca when he performed ablutions. He preferred to purchase the less expensive shoes. If he drank half a glass of water, he would put a piece of paper over it to keep the dust out and save the rest for later. Some claim that he had a special relation with the twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, peace be upon him, the awaited one who will defeat injustice prior to the final judgment. Such claims are also part of the mystical tradition of Shi‘ite Islam. Yet another year of our lives has passed. You young people are advancing toward old age, and we old people toward death. During this academic year you have become aware of the extent of your learning and study. You know how much you have acquired and how high the edifice of your education has been raised. However, with respect to the refinement of virtue, the acquisition of religious manners, divine learning and purification of the soul, what have you done? What positive steps have you taken? Have you had any thought of refinement or self-reformation? Have you had any program in this field? Unfortunately, I must submit that you have not done anything striking, and that with regard to the reformation and refinement of the self you have not taken any great steps. - 1. Professor Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari (1298-1358 AHS) was born on Bahman 13, 1298 AHS in the village of Fariman near Mashhad to a family of clergy. At the age of 12, he went to Mashhad where he learned the basics of Islamic sciences and then moved to Qum where he attended the class sessions conducted by the great authorities of the theological center. From 1319 AHS Mutahhari had taken part in the sessions led by His Eminence Imam Khomeini (r) and other famous teachers of the time. Moreover, he himself conducted lessons in subjects like Arabic literature, logic, kalam (scholasticism), jurisprudence, and philosophy. In 1331 AHS Mutahhari was transferred from Qum to Tehran and in 1334 AHS he was invited to teach Islamic sciences at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Tehran University. He was arrested at the midnight of Khordad 15, 1342 AHS and spent 43 days in prison. After Imam Khomeini’s migration to Paris in France, Mutahhari went to meet him and His Eminence assigned him the responsibility of organizing the Council of the Islamic Revolution. On the night of Ordibehesht 11, 1358 AHS [May 2, 1979] Mutahhari was martyred by an agent of the Furqan terrorist group. He wrote more than 50 books and tens of articles, and delivered scores of speeches. His Eminence Imam Khomeini (r) said of Mutahhari: “His written and spoken words are, without exception, educational and enlivening… I recommend the students and intellectual group not to let Mutahhari’s words be forgotten by un-Islamic tricks…” (Pub.) - 2. Mulla Sadra (d. 1050 AH/1640), also called Sadr ad-Din Shirazi, was a philosopher who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. The foremost representative of Ishraqi [Illuminationist] School of philosopher-mystics, he is commonly regarded by Iranians as the greatest philosopher of Iran. A scion of a notable Shirazi family, Mulla Sadra completed his education in Isfahan, then the leading cultural and intellectual center of Iran. After his studies with scholars there, he produced several works, the most famous of which was his Asfar (Journeys). Asfar contains the bulk of his philosophy, which was influenced by a personal mysticism bordering on the ascetic that he experienced during a 15-year retreat at Kahak, a village near Qum in Iran. Toward the end of his life, Mulla Sadra returned to Shiraz to teach. His teachings, however, were considered heretical by the orthodox Shi‘ite theologians, who persecuted him, though his powerful family connections permitted him to continue to write. He died on a pilgrimage to Mecca. (Pub.) - 3. Muhyi ad-Din ibn al-‘Arabi, the celebrated Muslim mystic whose influence came to permeate the intellectual and spiritual life of virtually the entire Muslim world, was born at Murcia in Southern Spain in 1165. Much of his youth was spent in Seville, where he devoted himself to literary, theological and mystical studies. After visiting Granada and other Spanish towns, as well as Tunis, Fez, and Morocco, he set out in 1202 for the East by way of Egypt, whence he made the pilgrimage to Mecca. He did not return to Spain. Many of the remaining years of his life were passed in the neighborhood of Mecca, but he also traveled extensively to Babylonia, Asia Minor, and Syria, everywhere gaining disciples and spreading his doctrines through dialogues with scientists and scholars. Whether we regard the extent of his theological writings or their influence on the subsequent development of Islamic mysticism, Ibn al-‘Arabi can justly claim the supreme position among Sufi authors which posterity has accorded him, and which is attested by the title, Ash-Shaykh al-Akbar, conferred on him by the almost unanimous voice of those who are best qualified to judge. The list of his works drawn up by himself contains 289 titles, and some of them are of enormous length. The most famous and important is the Futuhat al-Makkiyah. In this, as in many of his works, Ibn al-‘Arabi professes to communicate mysteries revealed to him in ecstatic vision by prophets, angels, and even God Himself. (Pub.) - 4. Ayatullah Sayyid Mahmud Taleqani (1289-1358 AHS / 1910-1979) was a highly learned and dedicated clergyman who played a pivotal role the struggle against dictatorial regime of the Shah. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatullah Taleqani was appointed as the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and was an elected member of the Council of Experts. In Mordad 1358 AHS [August 1979], Imam Khomeini designated him as his representative to lead the first Friday congregational prayers at the Tehran University campus. Ayatullah Taleqani had many written works on the exegesis of the Qur’an, Islamic education, and socio-political issues. (Pub.) - 5. See ft. 2, p. VIII-IX.(Pub.) - 6. Hajji Hadi Sabzewari (1797-1878) was the philosopher and poet noted for disseminating and clarifying the doctrines of Mulla Sadra. The Qajar Shah Nasir ad-Din ordered a mausoleum to be built for him at Mashhad. (Pub.) - 7. Mawlawi Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi (1207-1273) was the greatest mystic poet in the Farsi language and founder of the Mawlawiyyah order of dervishes (“The Whirling Dervishes”). He is famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic, Spiritual Couplets. (Pub.) - 8. Khwajah Shams ad-Din Muhammad Hafiz Shirazi (ca. 1325-1391) was the fourteenth century Persian lyric bard and panegyrist, and commonly considered as the preeminent master of the ghazal form. (Pub.) - 9. The text of the said letter of Imam Khomeini to Mikhail Gorbachev along with explanatory notes is published by this Institute under the title, A Call to Divine Unity. Its second edition is forthcoming. (Pub.)
Sun News’ political bias is no surprise -- Stephen Harper’s former Director of Communications leads the channel, and Sun News effectively works as the Conservative party’s propaganda wing. However, news bias is just the beginning, as the channel also has a history of hatemongering. Sun News’ vitriol is led by Ezra Levant, who has a long track record of offending various ethnic groups. His opinion piece against Roma people was removed after groups complained to the Toronto Police about hate speech, describing the broadcast as “one of the longest and most sustained on-air broadcasts of hate speech against any community in Canada that we’ve witnessed.” Idle No More protesters confronted him for being racist against First Nations, and he stood proud while wearing a niqab on air and called the traditional wear a “body bag” while his crew members giggled audibly. When not offending Canadians, he leads sustained and factually questionable attacks against environmentalists such as David Suzuki. His partner-in-hate, Krista Erickson, is notorious for bullying a modern dancer about arts funding. That interview so upset Canadians that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council recorded double its usual complaints. CRTC has complete discretion to deny new channels to be on basic package. It is currently receiving public comments on whether to grant Sun News mandatory carriage. Let the CRTC know that you do not want Sun News in your living rooms. Tell CRTC to deny bias and racist Sun News' application to air on all Canadian TVs. By Carly Lewis, Ryerson Review of Journalism, Winter 2012 A farce to be reckoned with “I’m not a fat ninja,” declared Ezra Levant. “It’s just me, Ezra, wearing a niqab.” That was the beginning of a segment of his Sun News Network television show, The Source, last July. He was indeed dressed in a style of burqa worn by women throughout the Arab Peninsula and wore it to make a statement against what he later referred to as “gender apartheid.” The niqab, according to Levant, is “a symbol of the inequality of women in radical Islam.” He dubbed it a “body bag” and Iran, “a hell hole.” Crew members giggled audibly from behind the scenes, suggesting that this was more of a gag than a feminist call to action. Heatedly, Levant detailed the reasoning behind his discomfort toward the niqab and wondered why Canadian feminists, “the bra burners from the 1960s,” hadn’t rallied together in protest over it. With his voice slightly muzzled by the cloth, Levant made his position on the garment painfully clear: “I’m in a one-person prison.” The segment combined all the qualities that define Sun News Network: stubbornly contrarian, outrageously flippant and lacking in nuance, qualities many Canadians find distasteful. Quebecor Media is betting that the rest can’t wait to tune in for more, but the danger is the channel may exacerbate the growing political polarization in this country. Quebecor’s announcement that it would launch Sun News generated widespread derision and plenty of angst. Jeffrey Simpson of The Globe and Mail labeled the channel “Fox News North” early on, a comparison that has either plagued or propelled the network since even before its April 2011 launch—depending on who’s talking. An activist organization called Avaaz garnered over 80,000 signatures protesting the channel months before it had even rolled the first clip. Among those signatories was Margaret Atwood, who emailed the Globe to say that the very idea of an unabashedly right-leaning television network was “part of the ‘I make the rules around here,’ Harper-is-a-king thing.” Sun Media’s Ottawa bureau chief, David Akin, host of Sun News’s Daily Briefs, said he was disappointed that Atwood would join what he called an “anti-free speech movement.” But even conservative Tasha Kheiriddin, a member of the National Post’s editorial board, wrote: “Sun TV really isn’t about Hard News and Straight Talk. It’s about Hot Chicks and Sexy Outfits.” The tide of negative opinion has done nothing to temper the network’s tone and has perhaps even energized it. Sun News is calculated about doing the opposite of what other networks claim to take pride in, which is presenting the news as objectively as possible. Parent company Sun Media regards objectivity suspiciously, either simply as a force that turns every news story grey, bland and monotonous or as a cover for hidden (read: liberal) leanings. The company even withdrew its newspapers from the Ontario Press Council last July, citing incompatibility with the industry group’s “politically correct mentality.” Antipathy to “political correctness” is the driving force at Sun News, the dark power against which the network heroically struggles—and its Death Star is undoubtedly Canada’s public broadcaster. “The CBC is exceedingly politically correct,” says Levant. “They have an official ‘line’ on everything from niqabs to the oil sands. That’s my chief criticism of the mainstream media in Canada: not that they’re liberal—though they generally are—but that they are so drearily uniform.” Beyond dull, CBC is a “billion-dollar Liberal campaign machine,” according to Levant. “Without a $1.1 billion a year subsidy like the CBC has, we just haven’t been able to afford hundreds and hundreds of middle managers to make our news as bland and politically correct as theirs.” Quebecor wants to position Sun News as the polar opposite of what it sees as the CBC-Liberal Party establishment—right down to hiring Stephen Harper’s combative former communications director, Kory Teneycke, as vice-president in charge of the channel. That underdog posture—despite the backing of a multibillion dollar parent company, as well as political connections, informal or otherwise—is no coincidence. It’s how Fox News built its status as the number one cable news network in the United States. “Fox News North” is not an insult; it’s a mission statement. I’m not in the business of deciding who my watchers and listeners should be,” says Luc Lavoie, head of development for Sun News and former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. “I’m in the business of offering a well-put-together product.” Lavoie, who maintains that he has no lingering connections to the Conservative Party, also points out that one of Sun News Network’s biggest media buys came from the Liberal Party during the last federal election campaign. “Everyone was sounding the same,” he says of Canada’s media outlets prior to the launch of Sun News. “Everyone was pretending to be objective and reporting along the same lines. Everyone was in ‘do not disturb mode.’ We’re disturbing. We’re blue collar. We are provocative. And that’s what people were waiting for.” Levant agrees. “Our news and views are circumscribed by a battalion of government regulations, including those enforced by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council,” he says. Of course, the CBSC is an industry organization, not a government one, but Levant is not about to let facts get in the way of a good rant. “Our government doesn’t trust us to listen to or watch as wide a variety of news as Americans are allowed.” Not without hope for a more Americanized style of reportage, Levant perks up when it comes to what the future holds. “Canada is slowly growing up out of its political correctness,” he says. “I think we’re slowly realizing that we’re not part of the European politically correct censorship model; we’re more in sync with the United States first amendment model.” Though Sun has no formal affiliation with Fox News (in fact, it has a foreign footage agreement with CNN), the American network’s attitude, style and strategy are obvious inspirations. South of the border, Fox has bullied its way to the top of the cable news heap with a potent combination of slick production values, shrill headline-grabbing personalities and reactionary populism. By cannily exploiting—and exacerbating—the country’s deepening political divides, Fox has appointed itself a political rainmaker. Sun News may have arrived at an opportune time to do the same for Canadian politics, where the middle ground is also eroding. With the Liberals in disarray following the 2011 federal election, the Conservatives sitting on a solid majority and the rise of the NDP to official opposition, Canadians increasingly have to choose between left and right. Sun News is here to capitalize. Early opposition to Sun News contained a paradox: some critics decried the existence of the network while othersasserted no one would watch it anyway. This is Canada, after all—we’re not supposed to go for this sort of thing. Early ratings were, indeed, laughably low. Last summer, Quebecor announced it would not apply to renew Sun’s over-the-air broadcast licence, apparently content to live in the triple-digit Siberia of the specialty cable channels instead. A Category 2 status designates the network as a broadcaster of “analysis and interpretation,” as opposed to a Category 1, which broadcasts news. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t watching. In fact, Sun is celebrating ratings that should make its competitors sweat: one month after its launch, figures from independent ratings agency BBM showed that Sun News’s prime time slots were attracting an average nightly audience of 18,900 in their first month. According to Lavoie, ratings are climbing even though he says Sun News reaches half the viewers of its competition. “It looks like there was a window in the market that was waiting for something.” Kim Lian Khoo was waiting. “All TV channels in Canada up to this point have been Liberal-minded or socialist-biased in their views,” says the retired teacher from Fournier, Ontario, who watches Sun regularly. “This could be the legacy left behind by years of the Liberal government. There are so many issues which most mainstream media will not touch….” She is not alone. “Unlike the regular Canadian mainstream media news channels, Sun TV pushes aside political correctness and reports on issues as they really are,” insists Orlin Olsen, a retired railroad worker living in Winnipeg, in what might as well be a spontaneous ad for the network. “I believe they look at the issues of the day through the eyes of ordinary Canadians rather than those of the liberal-left academic elites who seem to call the shots in our country. Ordinary Canadians appreciate their honesty and candour.” Arguing about the definition of bias is nothing new. “At the core of the debates about affirmation journalism and outlets like Sun TV is the question of whom journalism should serve, and how,” says Candis Callison, an assistant journalism professor at the University of British Columbia. “When opinion masquerades as fact, it can be very dangerous.” For Sun News, concerns about objectivity or political correctness come second to “Grreeeat TV,” which is what Canada Live host Krista Erickson promised viewers before she began an infamous interview with Margie Gillis last summer. The dancer and choreographer sat alone in a Montreal studio last June to do a satellite interview. The show’s producers had told Gillis the discussion would be about the value of funding the arts. When the interview began, however, Erickson, who’d spent 11 years as a CBC reporter before joining Sun, interrogated Gillis with questions about how much government funding she’d received during her 39-year career and why she felt any arts community was deserving of government money at all. Swirling her arms around to mimic the style of modern dance Gillis performs, Erickson didn’t mince words: “Why does this cost $1.2 million over 13 years?” The interview quickly melted down. Gillis responded, repeatedly, that she thought Sun News’s statistics were inaccurate and that Canadian dance deserves funding. At one point, as the two women spoke over each other, Gillis piped up as the voice of reason. “I’m your guest,” she reminded Erickson. “Perhaps you might let me speak.” The segment resulted in more than 6,600 citizen complaints against Sun News filed with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. It typically receives 2,000 per year. Such stunts have become Sun’s stock-in-trade. In June, Levant invited an animal rights activist from PETA onto his show to discuss the ethical treatment of zoo animals and then proceeded to eat chicken wings throughout the interview. Such gimmicks follow in the tradition of Glenn Beck, the former Fox host who once poured pretend-gasoline on the head of a guest because he felt “disenfranchised” by Barack Obama. “Most people do not consume news,” says Levant. “So anything that makes the news more entertaining is probably helpful. I do not regard myself as being in the ‘strictly news’ business. I am not a reporter. I’m in the opinion business, which is more suitable for humour and entertainment.” Because the Sun personalities on prime time don’t consider themselves reporters, that allows them to do and say whatever they want. By not making claims about being fair and balanced, Sun News doesn’t have to make any promises it can’t keep. (When he was at Fox, Glenn Beck preferred the term “opinion guy.”) But doesn’t the blurry line between fact and opinion threaten to misinform viewers, who tune in for news but get commentary instead? “If that were the case,” says Levant, “We would all be drinking New Coke and driving Edsels and we would have voted for the Charlottetown Accord. People are skeptical and they’re smarter than most journalists give them credit for.” Canada already has news networks and publications whose mandates champion objectivity. It wouldn’t have been in Quebecor’s financial interest to start another, nor would it help polarize Canadian politics and bury the Liberals. So where most networks proclaim fairness and balance, Sun News promises “Hard News and Straight Talk.” And when its reporters—ahem, commentators and analysts—talk about what exactly this means, they repeat the following like a mantra: “Unbiased reporting is a myth.” Mike Strobel, former editor-in-chief of the Toronto Sun who is now a columnist at the paper and a regular on Sun News, doesn’t hesitate to defend the channel’s overt biases and redirects any pointed fingers in the direction of CBC: “Their claims to objectivity mask the fact that a lot of CBC journalists tend to be kind of left-wing. Biases tend to be more subtle, whereas Sun News, to its credit, is in your face.” The matter of discerning bias in reporting is a fertile topic, but let’s not forget the fact that Sun’s flagship news anchor is calling Iran “a hell hole” on prime time television. That’s something new in Canadian broadcasting, and while the academics ponder the ethics of “fairness” and “balance,” Sun News Network is barging ahead, ignoring its prudish critics and accumulating viewers in the process. And if anyone doesn’t like it, Lavoie has a simple suggestion: “Switch to another channel.” Many people will, of course, just as many Americans despise Fox News. Sun doesn’t need to lead in the ratings to have an effect on other channels, on political parties and on the tenor of Canadian political culture. The culture of news reporting in America today is different because of competitive pressures from Fox. With Sun going after the CBC, and the Conservatives holding a majority government, the conversation will surely shift on every channel. Ripples emanating from that outpost in cable Siberia show the signs of things to come.
Twin River & RI Laborers Complete Negotiations for 3 Bargaining Units Friday, August 11, 2017 The units are LIUNA Local #711 Table Game Dealers and LIUNA Local #271 EVS Custodians and Players Club Representatives. Twin River has been embroiled in multiple labor disputes this year, including a strile by the Teamsters. “I am pleased to announce the successful completion of negotiations between the Rhode Island Laborers’ District Council and Twin River Casino for our three bargaining units. I would like to congratulate the respective teams for making a conscious effort to carry out these negotiations in good faith and in a professional manner. As a result of the hard work of both sides we were able to enhance health benefits at no additional cost to the employer as well as negotiate a wage increase for our members,” stated Michael F. Sabitoni, Business Manager of the Rhode Island Laborers’ District Council. “We’re extremely grateful that both parties worked cooperatively to successfully negotiate three collective bargaining agreements in the last few months. Importantly, these agreements were reached without any interruption in the employee paychecks and in the company’s operations,” said John E. Taylor, Jr., chairman of TRMG The Rhode Island Laborers’ District Council (RILDC) is an affiliate of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) and represents over 10,000 members in construction, gaming and municipal service throughout Rhode Island. It represent approximately 700 members at the Twin River Lincoln location. Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s 50 Wealthiest and Most Influential - 2015 Edition Paul O’Reilly, Newport Restaurant Group (2013 Ranking: NEW) You may not know the name, but you have probably tasted the food. Paul O'Reilly oversees maybe the largest and most diversified restaurant group in Rhode Island. In a state loaded with great restaurateurs, O'Reilly’s collection is impressive: Castle Hill Inn; TRIO and 22 Bowen’s Wine Bar & Grille; the Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar; the seasonal Smokehouse Café; the Boat House; Waterman Grille; Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar; and seven Papa Razzi locations. In 2014, his Newport Harbor Corp. sold nearly 4 acres on the waterfront known as the Newport Yachting Center for tens of millions. Stephanie and Lincoln Chafee, Philanthropist and former Candidate for President (2013 Ranking: 2) No one fell more in the rankings over the past two years than the Chafees. The fall in influence was driven by an embarrassing failed campaign for the Presidency that started poorly with a focus on the metric system and went downhill from there. Make no mistake about it, Lincoln Chafee could have been a significant force in Rhode Island and national politics at the conclusion of his term as Governor. He had close ties to the Obama White House and left the office far less scathed than former Governors like Ed DiPrete or Don Carcieri. The Chafees stay in the rankings because of two factors. They are good at comebacks and the Chafees are wealthy, and Stephanie's side of the family (Danforths) are in the 1% of the 1%. Back in 2006, Roll Call magazine ranked Chafee as the 9th richest member of Congress. The husband and wife team's combined wealth is estimated at between $150 million and $200 million. Bready Family, former CEO Nortek/former CEO of Nabsys (2013 Ranking: 10) The Breadys - father Rick and son Barrett - are two of Rhode Island’s most ambitious and accomplished entrepreneurs. The past couple of years have been a mixed bag for the Breadys, as Barrett’s Nabsys collapsed after raising upwards of of $40+ million. It should be noted that the younger Bready had left the firm before it shuttered. The father, Richard, hosted a major fundraiser for President Barack Obama in 2014 at his nearly $20 million mansion, named “Seafair.” Neil Steinberg, President, Rhode Island Foundation (2013 Ranking: 21) Under Steinberg, the Rhode Island Foundation has been reinvented from a sleepy charity to a dynamic innovator. Not every move has worked, but their has been no shortage of effort to spark and fund improvements to Rhode Island’s quality of life and economy. Today, the Foundation is deeply involved in the community narrative. Its peer organization — the Champlin Foundation — continues to operate in a cloak of secrecy. The former Fleet banker was an unlikely innovator, but the Foundation is now sparking a dizzying array of initiatives. With assets pushing towards $800 million, the Foundation is the largest grant making organization in Rhode Island. Ned Handy, President and Chief Operating Officer, Washington Trust (2013 Ranking: NEW) In 2013, it was a bit of a hiring coup d'état when Joe MarcAurele recruited Handy to join Washington Trust as President and Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he had 18 years at Citizens Financial Group, and was President of Citizens Bank Rhode Island and Citizens Bank Connecticut. His Connecticut connections have been part of Washington Trust's Connecticut growth. The Brown University graduate serves on a range of boards including Rhode Island Foundation, Crossroads Rhode Island, Delta Dental of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Hospital Foundation, Providence Foundation, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy and Salve Regina University. Charlie Townsend, CEO of Aloha Partners II (2013 Ranking: 48) Ever tap into the wireless on an airplane? The provider is almost always Gogo and Townsend is on the Board of the company. Rhode Island’s Townsend is everything wireless. He sold Aloha Partners for $2.5 billion. Now, Townsend is the General Partner and CEO of Aloha Partners II. Aloha Partners is the 8th largest owner of wireless spectrum in the United States, and holds wireless licenses in 12 of the top 50 markets. He has served on the Board of Directors of CTIA – The Wireless Association since 1988. Townsend is a Virginia and Harvard MBA grad. Myrth York, Political Influencer, Investor (2013 Ranking: NEW) She was arguably the King-maker in the last two Mayoral campaigns helping both Angel Taveras and Jorge Elorza win office, but in both cases once in office she has lost influence over each of them. The three-time Democratic nominee for Governor has been the titular head of the progressive wing of the Democratic party in RI for decades. The former State Senator from the East Side went all in for both Gina Raimondo and Jorge Elorza and she won big. Recently, she scored an appointment to the Beacon Insurance Board as a part of a Chafee-Raimondo agreement. York has been the Chair of the Zoning Board during the tenure of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. The changes to zoning on Federal Hill under the York leadership of the Zoning Board have been widely scrutinized. York is seen as a mentor to Brett Smiley, the City of Providence’s Chief Operating Officer. Mark Meiklejohn, President and CEO, BankRI (2013 Ranking: NEW) The bank that keeps going and growing was originally a premier regional business bank, and is now taking on all comers for consumer business. Meiklejohn joined BankRI in January 2006 as the Director of Commercial Banking. He took over for Merrill Sherman and has changed the culture of the bank. The former Fleet and Citizens executive has become a force in the community. He was recently the past President of the RI Bankers' Association and serves on the Boards of the United Way, Providence Chamber of Commerce, the RI Public Expenditure Council and as a Trustee for both the Providence Foundation and YMCA of Greater Providence. Jonathan Savage, Shectman Halperin Savage LLP (2013 Ranking: NEW) Savage and his partners have built one of the largest firms in Rhode Island. As other corporate firms have merged, paired back and shifted focus to Boston, Shechtman Halperin Savage have staffed up and filled the void. He has built his practice on serving as receiver or Special Master on many of the biggest busts in RI: Landmark Medical Center, The City of Central Falls, LJ Crane & Rigging, Nestor Traffic Systems, Inc., American Biophysics Corporation, and Marathon Construction, Inc. Now, as Chair of the Airport Corporation he has focused on reversing the trend of smaller and smaller annual passenger counts by bringing in new airlines, expanding the airport and upping the marketing. Merrill Sherman, former BankRI President and now Consultant (2013 Ranking: 23) Once rumored to run for Mayor of Providence and for Congress, Sherman has become a close confidant to Governor Gina Raimondo. Today, she is the Principal at Sherman Consulting and serves as special master on foreclosure cases. She served on Raimondo’s transition team and shortly there after was appointed to Chair the Board for the multi-billion Clean Water Finance Agency. Sherman sits on several boards including Brookline Bancorp, Inc.; Brookline Bank; Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Rhode Island School of Design. Don’t be surprised to see Sherman make a run for elected office in the future. Angus Davis, CEO and Founder of Swipely (2013 Ranking: 46) Davis may be Rhode Island’s most successful and experienced technologist and he not even close to hitting 40 years-old. He founded TellMe Networks -- and sold it to Microsoft for $800 million. Now, Swipely, is pilling up the accolades. The company founded in 2009, has raised $40.5M and landed over 3,000 customers. Combined the company has "sales under management" of over $4 Billion He has been tapped for most every tech award by Forbes and Fortune - a big win by Swipely would be a big win for Rhode Island. Paul Choquette Jr., Vice Chair, Gilbane, Inc. (2013 Ranking: 19) Like family member Tom Gilbane #38, their is no decay in influence, but the engagement in Rhode Island has diminished. Choquette has served on most every major board including Lifespan, the Brown Corporation, Trinity, and the RI Economic Development Corporation. It is the latter of those appointments and the vote for 38 Studios loan guarantee that is the blemish. He was a football star at Brown, and legal counsel to then-Governor John Chafee in the early 1960s. But, make not mistake about it, the family's wealth and the company's influence has only increased, it's just their desire to play in the Rhode Island “sandbox” has decreased. Tom Gilbane, Jr., CEO and Chairman, Gilbane, Inc. (2013 Ranking: 33) The Gilbane family’s wealth and influence is growing, but the company’s move to Boston has made the them more and more a regional and national player. Gilbane and Paul Choquette have been two of the leaders in growing Gilbane from a strong regional construction force to a national firm over the past four decades. In 2014, when GoLocal ranked the 9 wealthiest families in New England, the Gilbanes came in at #7 based on Forbes Data: With a net worth of $1.4 Billion, the family is ranked as the #147 wealthiest family in America. Richard Baccari, Churchill and Banks (2013 Ranking: NEW) Baccari has had a tumultuous couple of years. The mega-developer has put together a massive collection of successful projects throughout the region, but not without great effort and some pain. In 2014, he was cleared of Federal conspiracy and bribery charges relating to the North Providence Municipal corruption probe. In early 2015, Baccari announced that he would be handing over the reins to the development company to his son, Richard, Jr. The portfolio of retail, office, residential and commercial are many of the best known properties around the region. He continues to be a major force in Rhode Island. Mark Pelson, PCI Private Equity (2013 Ranking: 44) Pelson is a quiet leader in business and politics. His relationship with the infrastructure of private equity in the state and his close relationship with Governor Gina Raimondo puts Pelson in a unique power position. He served on Raimondo’s transition team. He has served as Chairman of Lambert's Cove Acquisition Corporation since its inception. He is a partner in several Providence Equity funds where he has served on numerous corporate boards. Pelson has served on the Board of Overseers of Children's Hospital Boston and as Chairman of The Wolf School in East Providence. Donald Sweitzer, Chairman, IGT Corporation (formerly GTECH) (2013 Ranking: NEW) There is the outside game and the inside game, and Sweitzer is very good at the inside game. In a company that has changed CEO a number of times, moved headquarters, been acquired by an international concern and rebranded, he continues to play his roll as top political adviser to the global gaming company. Sweitzer is an “ambassador for the Company when interacting with global customers, current and potential partners, and government officials,” says his corporate bio. Additionally, Sweitzer advises IGT's CEO on government affairs and general business matters. Prior to joining GTECH way back in 1998, he was a national Democratic consultant. Michael Mahoney, CEO Boston Scientific (2013 Ranking: 26) It has been a good couple of years for the Rhode Islander and CEO of Boston Scientific. The once volatile medical device firm has seen a far steadier path under Mahoney’s leadership. Boston Scientific recorded $7.3 billion in sales in 2014. As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mahoney made $10,329,264 in total compensation. Of this total $921,302 was received as a salary, $1,404,150 was received as a bonus, $1,899,718 was received in stock options, $6,044,228 was awarded as stock and $59,866 came from other types of compensation, according to Salary.com. Magaziner Family, State Treasurer, Clinton Foundation, Philanthropists (2013 Ranking: 31) Seth Magaziner is the General Treasurer of RI; his father, Ira, is the vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Clinton Health Access Initiative; and his mother, Suzanne, chairs the Board of Trinity Rep. The younger has pledged to create a higher level of transparency as he manages the more than $7 billion dollar state pension system. The management of the assets has been widely criticized for the lack of disclosure tied to payment of massive fees to hedge funds. Ira Magaziner who has had a storied career as a business consultant and as an advisor to the Clintons, but it has not been without controversy. Most recently, a New York Times article was scathing regarding his performance at the Clinton Foundation. Combined, the Magaziner family touches most every component of Rhode Island life and play at a national level as well. A Hillary Clinton Administration could mean more big things for anyone of the three. Brian Goldner, CEO, Hasbro (2013 Ranking: 32) Goldner may have changed Hasbro more in the past five years than the company changed in the previous 50 years. He transformed the company from a manufacturing based toy company into an multi-media, entertainment company. It looks a lot more like EA sports than it does like the old Milton Bradley subsidiary. The move of a division and workers to Providence has been part of the transition of the company. The reinvention he has implemented is dubbed as “Hasbro's branded-play strategy through the global re-imagination, re-invention and re-ignition of Hasbro's world-class brand portfolio.” As President and Chief Executive Officer at Hasbro, Goldner made $14,437,987 in total compensation. Of this total $1,300,000 was received as a salary, $2,300,000 was received as a bonus, $2,798,372 was received in stock options, $7,741,677 was awarded as stock and $297,938 came from other types of compensation, according to Salary.com. Terry Murray, Former CEO of Fleet Bank (2013 Ranking: 36) Murray loves baseball. When CEO at Fleet he signed a massive sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball. Murray’s passion about the sport put him back in the public eye when he joined the new ownership group that purchased the PawSox from the Mondor family. He along with two other members of the list - Habib Gorgi and Tom Ryan — came under public scrutiny when they asked for more than $120 million in public financing. Murray grew up in Woonsocket, attended Harvard, and then grew and merged Fleet Bank from a regional to global player. He orchestrated the merger between Bank Boston and the Fleet Boston to became the 7th largest lender in America before being bought by Bank of America. He is one of two Rhode Islanders who belong to Augusta National. Bruce Van Saun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Bank (2013 Ranking: NEW) No one may determine the future of Providence more than Van Saun. The CEO of Citizens has navigated the company's spin away from the Royal Bank of Scotland and its public offering. Now, he will set the course for the future of the city and his bank. 4,000 employees in downtown Providence would be great for the city, state and carbon foot print -- instead of thousands of cars driving to Smithfield. He is a behind the scenes “data guy” and for Citizens to compete and grow the company will need to recruit smart technologists —and they don’t want to be working at a campus in the burbs. Van Saun has held a number of top jobs with Bank of New York and later Bank of New York Mellon, including Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. He is a director of Lloyd’s of London. A Van Saun move to Providence and redevelopment of a downtown campus with the Superman building is a game changer for Rhode Island - they build statutes for people with that kind of vision. John Bowen, Chancellor, President, and CEO of Johnson and Wales (2013 Ranking: NEW) Johnson and Wales continues its metamorphosis. Bowen is by far the longest serving college President having been appointed in 2004. He oversees more than 17,000 students and approximately 2,000 employees at campuses around the country: Providence; North Miami, Fla.; Denver, Colo.; and Charlotte, N.C. The University's growth has been significant and transformational in downtown Providence. He has been a Director at Washington Trust, as a Director for Newport Harbor Corporation and was Chairman of the Providence Foundation. Joe MarcAurele, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Washington Trust (2013 Ranking: 24) MarcAurele has helped to grow Washington Trust into a major banking player in Rhode Island and now with a major focus on growth in Connecticut. He started his career at Fleet and had a major stint at Citizens but jumped to take over the Presidency of Washington Trust in 2009. He has served as President of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and a trustee of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, and Rhode Island Hospital Foundation. MarcAurele received an Honorary Degree of Business Administration in Financial Services Management from Johnson and Wales University and an Honorary Doctorate of Business from Bryant University. As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Washington Trust, he made $1,134,661 in total compensation. Of this total $514,596 was received as a salary, $318,407 was received as a bonus, $208,653 was awarded as stock and $93,005 came from other types of compensation, according to Salary.com. John Hazen White, CEO Taco (2013 Ranking: NEW) The third-generation CEO of one of Rhode Island’s most successful and enduring manufacturing companies has demonstrated skills at both corporate leadership and political disruption. Never shy, Hazen White has been a loud voice in funding efforts to reform issues in Rhode Island, including pension reform, master level and a failed effort to adopt a Constitutional Convention. Taco has made a number of global acquisitions and entered into a series of strategic partnerships. He is the principal funding source for the Hummel Report and has endowed the John Hazen White Forum on Public Policy at the Brookings. The reach of his philanthropy targets many education and cultural efforts in Rhode Island, with annual gifts totaling a little more than $400,000. Robert DiMuccio, CEO Amica Insurance (2013 Ranking: NEW) There is not a Rhode Island CEO who is more connected to the community than DiMuccio. Whether it is the Boy Scouts or the NAACP, he is usually there picking up a well-deserved award for contribution to the community. Amica which has grown from a small mutual insurance company in which you needed to get a reference in order to join back in the 1970’s, to now a national power - nearly always winning top ranking for quality and customer service. In April of this year, DiMuccio was featured in a Forbes piece, “In Search of Building a Great Company." The publication wrote, “Since 2005, when Bob became CEO of the 108-year-old mutual company, Amica has won a remarkable 29 J.D. Power awards.” He serves on a range of Boards including Washington Trust’s. Frederick Butler, Chair of the Board of RI Foundation (2013 Ranking: NEW) Butler may be on more high profile and influential boards then any other Rhode Islander. The former top level executive at Textron is now the Chair of the Board at the Rhode Island Foundation. He is chairman of AAA Southern New England’s board of directors, a commissioner of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission and a trustee of Salve Regina University. He is vice chairman of the board of directors for Delta Dental of Rhode Island, a past chairman of The Providence Foundation, and a former board member of the United Way of Rhode Island. Butler is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He worked at Textron in various legal and executive positions from 1980 until his retirement in 2009, and has held numerous leadership positions in Rhode Island, including chairing the Providence Foundation and the board of FirstWorks Providence. Butler is a commissioner of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission and a trustee of Salve Regina University. Thomas Tisch, Chancellor, Brown University (2013 Ranking: 29) As Brown's influence is getting bigger and broader in Rhode Island, so does Thomas Tisch's in Rhode Island. His wealth would be significantly higher, but as a member of the Sears Board he bet big on the performance of the company. According to a Barron’s April of 2014 story, Tisch purchased 475,000 shares of Sears’ stock for $15,940,000 at $33.50 a share. That increased his holdings to 620,824 shares plus another 933,478 shares in a trust. The value of his Sears holdings have decrease from $52 million to about $30 million. Already a powerful financier from one of America's most influential families, he is managing partner of Four Partners, an investment firm in NYC. In addition to serving on the Sears board, he serves on the boards of directors of kgb inc. Additionally he serves on the boards of trustees for the New York University Langone Medical Center and KIPP New York. Editor's Note: an earlier version misidentified him at Provost, we apologize for the error. The Provost is Richard Locke. Charles Royce, Royce Funds/Ocean House/Weekapaug Inn (2013 Ranking: 38) The billionaire Royce has made a profound impact on Rhode Island’s hospitality industry by restoring and dramatically enhancing two of the most historic and unique Victorian properties in the state. He has invested tens of millions in developing the Ocean House in Westerly and the Weekapaug Inn into brimming expressions of Victorian architecture. Royce holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University. He has been a major donor to Brown and funds the Royce Fellowship at Brown. Bernie Buonanno, III, Managing Partner at Nautic Partners (2013 Ranking: NEW) An accomplished private equity financier — he and Habib Gorgi (#15 on the list) have built their once spinoff from Fleet Bank boutique into a billion dollar concern. The connections with others in the power structure in Rhode Island is a veritable family tree. His sister Helena Foulkes is #5 on the list, his father is the chair of the Convention Center Authority and Helena’s husband (Bill Foulkes) serves on the state’s Board of Education. Buonanno was an all-Ivy lacrosse player at Brown. His uncle was U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). Maureen McKenna Goldberg and Robert Goldberg, Supreme Court and Lobbyist (respectively) (2013 Ranking: 13) Meet the highest ranked power couple on the list. In a list dominated by millionaires and even billionaires, the Goldbergs are certainly wealthy, but the strength of their ranking comes from their combined influence. Maureen McKenna Goldberg has served on the Rhode Island Supreme Court for more than 15 years. Her husband, Robert Goldberg is the top lobbyist in Rhode Island -- his clients are a who's who of RI and US corporate America, including CVS, FedEx, Johnson and Wales, Bryant University and GTECH. It is reported that Goldberg earns an estimated $1 million plus per year in lobbying and associated legal work. The chink in the political armor for Bob Goldberg came this year when what was thought to be a slam dunk project - the move of the PawSox - got stopped by a group of citizens, a lot of social media and investigative reporting. Giovanni Feroce, CEO of BENRUS (2013 Ranking: 6 with Carolyn Rafaelian) Giovanni Feroce is trying to do it twice. His success at Alex and Ani has him recognized as one of today’s most successful American CEOs, and now he is in the midst of building BENRUS into a multi-billion dollar. The military-inspired lifestyle brand is growing from a WWII watch brand into a complete lifestyle brand. Feroce currently serves as CEO and Chairman of BENRUS, LLC. and in just a year has rebranded and expanded the company, inked a major deal with Nordstrom, and opened retail locations on the East Coast. As the New York Times wrote, "Mr. Feroce is in the midst of bringing it back to market. His goal is to transform Benrus into a lifestyle brand — selling things like backpacks, bomber jackets, even a men’s cologne called Benrus Black, a reference to “black ops” — with the watches taking center stage." If he hits a homer with BENRUS, he will have done what few CEOs have ever done — taken two companies on upward rocket rides. Tom Guerra and Tony Thomas, Foundry Complex (2013 Ranking: 41) The son and son-in-law of architect and developer Antonio Guerra now manage the amazing rehabbed industrial campus. The elder Guerra passed in 2014, but he had purchased the then-mothballed Brown and Sharpe complex from the company in the late 1960's. Over 40 years, the family painstakingly rehabbed each building and developed it into the premier work-live complex in the state. The campus offers 26-acres and 13 buildings and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2013, they acquired American Locomotive Complex for just under $20 million and just completed the redevelopment of the “Sharpe” Building into additional apartments. Now, thousands work in their buildings and hundreds live in the former mills. Combined, these real estate holdings exceed an estimated $300 million. Fred Carpionato, CEO Carpionato Properties (2013 Ranking: 17) The developer’s highest profile properties include the Chapel View in Cranston and the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, but they are just the head of the needle. He owns and operates many of southern New England's biggest developments - literally millions of square feet of retail and numerous hotels. Over the past two years, he has been looking to be a lead developer on the 195 development. His teardown of the old Produce Market on the backside of Providence Place Mall has been widely criticized by preservationists. The land still remains vacant today. He is major donor to Jack Reed's Narragansett Bay PAC and Reed rents office space at his development in Cranston. Brad Dimeo, CEO Dimeo Construction (2013 Ranking: NEW) He is a third generation leader of Dimeo Construction. Walk around Brown University or just about any college, university or hospital campus is the region and you will see a team from Dimeo building. Their diversity includes the award winning Ocean House in Watch Hill - one of America’s most award winning hotels in America and owned and operated by billionaire Charles M. Royce of Royce Funds. Royce is #30 on this year’s list, but only a part-time Rhode Islander. Dimeo’s firm is building many of Johnson & Wales additions, but reaches to Massachusetts and Connecticut regularly. Dimeo is active with Crossroads, Board of Directors, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Advisory Council and is a RIPEC, Trustee. Carolyn Rafaelian, Founder of Alex and Ani (2013 Ranking: 6 with Giovanni Feroce) It has been a tumultuous two years for Alex and Ani and Rafaelian. In the beginning of 2014, she and Feroce had a very public break up and Rafaelian took control of the company. During that period she shed hundreds of employees and revamped nearly the entire management team. The RI success story which has been among the fastest growing companies in America and was targeting an IPO has restructured and is looking to close out a rebound 2015. That goal may have taken a hit when the company lost its Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Bonifacino going into fourth quarter. The Alex and Ani involvement, donations and sponsorships in RI has been paired back and Rafaelian has closed two of her three coffee shops - Teas and Javas. The company reported to have a value in the billions and she is still the largest shareholder. A good holiday season and the karma will be good in Alex and Ani’s world, but a significant shortfall in annual sales and the company’s skyrocketing growth may look a little more mortal. Habib Gorgi, Managing Partner, Nautic Partners (2013 Ranking: NEW) Quietly Nautic Partners has become a significant mid-sized private equity firm. According to the firm's most recent filling with the SEC in 2012, the firm was looking to raise an additional $800 million. This was the seventh round of fundraising by the firm. Gorgi has been a behind the scenes player in Rhode Island business, but this year became far more public when it was disclosed he was a limited partner in the new ownership group of the Pawtucket Red Sox. He is partners in Nautic with #28 on this year’s list Bernie Buonanno, III. Alan Hassenfeld, Former CEO and Chair of Hasbro (2013 Ranking: 4) Once the 800-pound business and political leader in Rhode Island, the former CEO and Chairman of Hasbro was a force in pushing for ethics reform in Rhode Island. For the past few years he has taken a lower profile in Rhode Island -- he did however endow the creation of the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University. The Rhode Island-based Hassenfeld Foundation gave out roughly $4.7 million in donation in the most recently reported year. (Interestingly, one of the Foundation’s holdings was in Mattel stock - Hasbro’s long-time rival). Recently, Hassenfeld helped the Capital Good Fund’s effort for micro loans with a $100,000 gift. Buff Chace, Developer (2013 Ranking: 30) Chace has been a driving force in creating a new urban living experience in downtown Providence. He has become ever more controversial due to his ongoing demands for tax stabilizations on his projects. One of his most recent projects is the 170,000 square foot Providence Journal Building in which he is requesting a two-third decrease in the tax assessment as well as a tax stabilization. He has eight buildings in the Westminster Street area. His official title is founder and managing partner of Cornish Associates. In addition, he’s the managing general partner of Mashpee Commons. Wildly active in the community, he is chairperson of the Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy and a member of the Executive Committee of the Providence Foundation, and is a director emeritus for GrowSmart RI and a trustee emeritus of Trinity Repertory Theatre. Tom Ryan, former CEO and Chairman of CVS (2013 Ranking: 27) Ryan's retirement has been anything but dull. The URI pharmacy grad who helped to build CVS into one of America’s largest corporations has been involved with two of the biggest initiatives in Rhode Island in the past year. He and his wife Anne donated $15 million to fund the George and Anne Ryan Center on Neuroscience at URI. This center is one of the cogs in bringing together major educational and health organizations in a broad-based neuroscience initiative in Rhode Island. The second major initiative Ryan has been involved with has been the effort to move the Pawtucket Red Sox from their home to a Providence Stadium. He and the other owners initially requested more than $120 million in taxpayer support. Ryan’s neuroscience gift coupled with his fundraising leadership and donations to build the Ryan Center have made him the single biggest individual donor to URI. Glenn Creamer, Senior Managing Director Providence Equity (2013 Ranking: 4) Creamer is a Pawtucket “guy” who has helped to build a $40 billion private equity firm headquartered right here in Providence. With #2 ranked Jonathan Nelson and #3 ranked Paul Salem, the three along with a team of a few dozen have put Rhode Island on the map for the highest of high finance. Previous to Providence Equity, Creamer worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan and received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. While the past couple years have been a bit rough, there have been some solid hits with the sale of Ironman to Wanda Group for $650 million earlier this year which takes some of the sting off the Altegrity loss of nearly $800 million. Paul Salem, Senior Managing Director Providence Equity (2013 Ranking: 5) Salem has been a leader on some of the biggest private equity deals in business such AT&T Canada, Wired magazine, and Hulu. He along with fellow Brown mates Jonathan Nelson (#2 on this years list) and Glenn Creamer (#11) were Wall Street’s golden boys for more than a decade. But, the past couple of years have taken a little luster of the firm’s momentum. The collapse of Altergrity and a tough New York Times article were two big hits this past year, but make no mistake about it - with $40 billion and a talented team, they are just one mega-deal away from regaining a position as one of the top firms in the United States. One of the family’s biggest successes may be by his wife Navyn, who is the founder of Edesia, a global nutrition solution - one of the most heralded efforts to combat hunger. Salem is the Chair of the Board of the education program Year Up. Scott Donnelly, CEO Textron (2013 Ranking: 8) Donnelly heads one of only three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Rhode Island, and it is Providence’s only one. Textron is ranked #219. Prior to coming to Textron, he was president and CEO for General Electric (GE) Aviation, the world's leading producer of large and small jet engines. He took the helm of Textron in 2009. As Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at TEXTRON INC, he received $12,150,820 in total compensation. Of this total $1,080,000 was received as a salary, $1,690,000 was received as a bonus, $2,827,898 was received in stock options, $6,477,552 was awarded as stock and $75,370 came from other types of compensation, according to Salary.com. Textron is one of the world's best-known multi-industry companies. Textron businesses include Bell Helicopter, Cessna, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Jacobson, Kautex and Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation. John Taylor, Chairman Twin River (2013 Ranking: 9) Taylor’s gaming holdings have grown significantly and his big bet has yet to payoff. In 2014, his company purchased the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi for $250 million. The same year they tried to get approval for another facility in Colorado, but the voters shot them down. This year, Taylor’s company got approval to build a hotel on the Twin River Lincoln campus. The biggest bet is the company’s acquisition of Newport Grand and the proposal to build a new facility in Tiverton with an expansion of table games. Tiverton is one of Rhode Island’s most rural and beautiful towns — but Taylor has gone door-to-door himself, explaining the benefits and putting his name on the line with residents. For Taylor who started as an intern from then-Governor Ed DiPrete in the 1980’s, he has come along way and 2016 is a big year. Christina Paxson, President Brown University (2013 Ranking: 37) After a quiet start in her tenure as Brown’s 19th president, Paxson has begun to roll out a number of major initiatives including a $3 billion fundraising campaign. Yes, $3 billion! Moreover, she has started to be a political force in Providence and Rhode Island wielding significant influence. She was a key player in resolving the nursing school dispute and her “pull the rug” letter ended the PawSox efforts in Providence on the 195 land. She faces challenges as the Woodrow Wilson Center at Princeton that she ran before coming to Brown, which has become a lightning rod issue about the name-sakes racial legacy, and Brown students are beginning to stir on a number of race-related issues. She recently announced a $100 million effort to study racism. According tot he Chronicle of Higher Educations review, Paxson earns $739,000 (about one-sixth of her Ivy-League counterpart at Columbia). Helena Foulkes, VP CVS (2013 Ranking: NEW) Foulkes, like Merlo, has had a good couple of years. She was in part the architect of the removal tobacco from the company’s 7,700 plus stores. Fortune named her the #26 most powerful woman in business and she now is President of the Retail business. Her father chairs the RI Convention Center Authority Board, her brother serves on the Commerce Corporation Board and her husband serves of the education board. There is no excuse for not being able to fix RI’s economy over Christmas dinner. According to Salary.com, Foulkes made $6,064,082 in total compensation. Of this total $850,000 was received as a salary, $3,165,044 was received as a bonus, $624,992 was received in stock options, $1,249,927 was awarded as stock and $174,119 came from other types of compensation. Joe Paolino, Paolino Properties (2013 Ranking: 12) If you are standing downtown and look left, right or up, then you are bound to see multiple elements of the Paolino real estate holdings. Never before has one company owned so much of the highest value property in downtown at the same time. Similarly, it is hard to attend a Democratic Fundraiser without Paolino playing a key role. He is a top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, helped Buddy Cianci’s failed effort to recapture City Hall in 2014, but even when he loses he seems to win. He failed to get voters in Newport to approve his plan to add table games to Newport Grand and so he flipped the property to Twin River and took his winnings off the table. Paul Kazarian, Japonica Partners (2013 Ranking: NEW) RI based financier Paul Kazarian bet billions in the Greek debt crisis. The founder and CEO of Japonica Partners was a key player in the battle between Greece and the European Union. Kazarian’s company was one of the largest private bond holders in Greece. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker first made national headlines when he took control of Sunbean-Oster and made millions when he left as CEO of the company - it was not a happy break-up. The family's Charles and Agnes Kazarian Eternal Foundation, named in honor of his grandparents, has assets in excess of $160 million (to put in perspective the Champlin Foundation has about $270 million in assets). Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island (2013 Ranking: 18) Maybe the best resume ever to come out of Rhode Island. Raimondo was elected Rhode Island’s first female Governor and couple that accomplishment with her degrees from Harvard, Yale and a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, and she is right there with John Pastore, T.F. Green, and John Chafee. As General Treasurer she was the darling of the Wall Street Journal and other business publications for pension reform legislation. For many it was perceived as having saved the pension system, but detractors like Forbes columnist and former SEC investigator Ted Siedle claim it just pushed more wealth to Hedge Fund managers who have made hundreds of millions in fees from Rhode Island’s pension funds under Raimondo’s reign. As Governor, she has proposed a massive funding program to rebuild Rhode Island’s dilapidated infrastructure. The proposal has come under criticism in part for utilizing a revenue bond structure - another program that will generate tens of millions in Wall Street fees. Her husband Andrew Moffit is a business consultant at McKinsey & Company. Her wealth in part comes from the State of Rhode Island’s investment in Point Judith Capital - she is a shareholder. Jonathan Nelson, Founder Providence Equity Group (2013 Ranking: 1) The past two years have been a challenge for Jonathan Nelson and his Providence Equity Group. Once the golden boys of private equity and lauded for putting together “the biggest deal in the world,” he and the firm have had a series of set backs. The highest profile bump was the firm’s loss of nearly $800 million in the firm, Altegrity, that was contracted to review federal contractors like Edward Snowden. As GoLocal reported last January, the domino effect of Snowden’s absconding with federal data bases exposed the deficiencies of Altegrity’s vetting process. As the New York Times wrote in April, “Altegrity was the latest in a string of bad bets for the firm. Last summer, it lost its entire $460 million investment in a for-profit college company after that company faced multiple investigations. Hundreds of millions of dollars were erased when the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer went bankrupt in 2010. A $675 million stake in an Internet retailer has been written down to zero, as has the $400 million it spent on a Dutch child-care group. The spate of poor investments caused Providence to deliver dismal returns in back-to-back funds.” Please don’t distress too much over Nelson’s plight, he is still considered Rhode Island’s richest man by Forbes and his Providence Equity Partners still manages a self-reported $40 billion under management. Larry Merlo, President and CEO of CVS (2013 Ranking: 7) Its been a good couple of years for Larry Merlo. In 2014, under his leadership, CVS stopped selling tobacco products which made the company a poster child for being a progressive, pro-health company. Then, the First Lady, Michelle Obama asked him to be her guest last January at the State of the Union. Also, he scored a compensation package of $32 million in 2014. Not a bad year for the CEO of the 12th ranked company on Fortune 500’s list. In 2013, Merlo ranked 7th in GoLocal’s 2013 ranking, but his accumulated wealth and his craftsman-like leadership of CVS elevates Merlo to the position of the Most Wealthy and Influential for 2015. - Teamsters Go On Strike at Twin River - Other Unions Promise to Respect Picket Lines - NEW: Twin River Secures Approval in Tiverton After Mail Ballot Count - Twin River Spending Millions with Out-of-State Firms to Build Hotel - UB40 Brings it to Twin River!! - GOP Leader Picks Labor Day Fight with Twin River Over Elimination of Sunday Overtime - Twin River Strike Averted - Union Must Ratify Agreement - Twin River Workers to Strike on Friday, RI Revenues Could Be Impacted, & Raimondo Monitoring - Moore: Twin River’s Labor Strife Highlights Obamacare’s Weakness - Raimondo Solicits Twin River, IGT for NGA Mtg & Pushed for Millions in Budget for Companies - Teamsters and Twin River in Showdown — Strike Looming - Will Unions Cross Union Picket Lines If Twin River Has Strike? - All of the Statewide Referendums Approved - Twin River By the Slimest Margin - Twin River Unveils $75 Million Tiverton Proposal - #DSTRONG, Twin River & Pawn Shops: This Week at the State House - Good News and Bad News for Twin River Out of Massachusetts - Huey Lewis & The News Rocks Twin River! - REPORT: FitchRatings Warns of Impact on Twin River - How Do Twin River Casino and Plainridge Park Casino Match Up? - Lean Gov’t, Marijuana, and a Twin River Hotel: This Week at the State House - Resignations, A Hotel for Twin River, & a “Tip Wage” Rally: This Week at the State House - Twin River Announces Intention to Move Newport Grand to Tiverton
The Option Investor Newsletter Tuesday 11-19-2002 Copyright 2002, All rights reserved. 1 of 3 Redistribution in any form strictly prohibited. In Section One: Wrap: All Hope, No Action Futures Markets: No Man’s Land Index Trader Wrap: (See Note) Market Sentiment: Patience, Patience Weekly Manager Microscope: Updated on the site tonight: Swing Trader Game Plan: Another Step Closer Posted online for subscribers at http://www.OptionInvestor.com ********************************************************** MARKET WRAP (view in courier font for table alignment) ******************************************************** 11-19-2002 High Low Volume Advance/Decline DJIA 8477.73 - 11.65 8546.84 8405.12 1.61 bln 1406/1777 NASDAQ 1374.35 - 19.30 1394.93 1367.76 1.57 bln 1413/1398 S&P 100 457.69 - 1.30 462.34 455.14 Totals 2819/3175 S&P 500 896.79 - 3.61 905.32 893.09 RUS 2000 379.57 - 3.01 383.27 379.16 DJ TRANS 2269.82 - 20.82 2294.14 2266.23 VIX 31.36 + 0.25 32.70 30.73 VXN 45.52 - 2.57 50.28 45.18 TRIN 1.20 PUT/CALL 0.81 ******************************************************** All Hope, No Action The morning market action was worse than watching paint dry. They recovered from the initial drop in very small increments and had to fight for every point. The 12:30 rebound buoyed hopes while Greenspan spoke but once the speech was over sellers ruled the day. Dow Chart – Daily Nasdaq Chart – Daily A warning by Dow component Home Depot set the tone for the day as retailers continue to complain that the consumer is not coming to their rescue. HD said sales were down -2% and could be down another -3% to -5% in the fourth quarter. They missed earnings by a penny and dropped -3.55 on the news. BJ's Wholesale also warned that year end sales were less than expected and was downgraded by one analyst to a "sell". The company said it was going to try and prop up sales revenue by offering more big ticket items like 42-inch plasma monitors. Obviously if consumers can't afford the smaller conventional TVs they will rush out and get a loan to spend thousands on a flat screen. Did I miss something in supply and demand class? The company said it was targeting $1.90 per share for 2004 and analysts were expecting $2.21. Basically they just warned for all of next year in advance to get it out of the way. AG Edwards cut them to a sell from hold. BJ dropped -3.75 on the news. WMT who competes with BJ's with its SAMS Wholesale unit has already said sales would be flat in the fourth quarter. There have been numerous analysts saying that this will be the most heavily discounted selling season in over a decade just to attempt to get rid of excess holiday inventory. Dow component Deere offset some of the HD loss after hitting raised estimates by cutting costs and introducing new products. They affirmed 2003 earnings estimates and gained +1.84 on the news. Amazon bragged about being the retailer for the Segway Personal Transporter but Bear Stearns downgraded them based on valuation and lack of a pressing argument to achieve higher sales. They said the retailer has already entered all the markets it could without significant additional expense and achieving additional market share would be difficult. Amazon was not the only tech stock downgraded on valuation with Microsoft in the same category. Raymond James downgraded MSFT based on a lack of economic recovery. They said the software companies revenue going forward would be directly impacted by a lack of recovery and no IT spending. While there will be an eventual PC replacement cycle nobody sees it coming anytime soon according to Raymond James analyst Rich Scocozza. EMC echoed those views when it's CEO said in Tokyo today that he saw no signs of a pickup in corporate IT spending and was wary of predictions of a rebound in 2003. EMC is the worlds largest data storage company. The Unisys CEO said the same think in a speech on Tuesday. He said that global spending will not improve until profits improve and free cash flow becomes available. It appears everyone is waiting on the recovery to appear but it will not appear until everyone starts spending again. Greenspan echoed the same sentiments in his speech this afternoon. He said "nobody was currently spending anything" but then quickly corrected himself to say "very few" instead. He dwelled on very slow and unsteady current growth but went out of his way to say that the Fed was not running out of stimulus ammo. In an effort to calm fears about a Japanese style Fed with no bullets left he emphasized that they could set/support interest rates on all maturities of treasuries to infuse liquidity into the system. The markets rose as the text of his speech was made available but fell after question and answer session where comments were unscripted. After the bell there were more earnings warnings from retailers and more rumors regarding a coming profit warning from GE. On Thursday GE is expected to warn and announce a restructuring with a $2 billion charge to earnings. Rumors are for a -15 to -20 cent drop in estimates. The stock has sold off significantly over the last several weeks as these rumors have grown. Some traders think a moderate warning could actually produce a bounce since there is so much bad news already in the stock. Others think the reinsurance, airline, capital equipment and financing divisions could be in serious trouble and this could be the final straw for the markets. Either way the bad news will be out on Thursday. The markets struggled to trade higher today and did so on sentiment alone as there was no really positive news to power stocks. The economic news was weak with Chain Store Sales down -1.2% but we already knew there was trouble in the mall from various warnings from retailers. The excuse of the day was a late month Thanksgiving weekend which would cut several days off the holiday season. There are only two post Thanksgiving shopping days this November and there were nine last year. The Bank of Tokyo estimated 2% of sales would be transferred from November to December due to the short calendar. It appears the strong two weeks of fall sales in early November did not continue as analysts had hoped. CPI showed that inflation was trending upward only slightly with energy, medical and housing prices the main reason for the increase. At the 2.2% annual rate inflation is not a factor for the Fed and should not be a concern for traders. Those rising home prices and the NAHB Housing Index today showed that builders are still optimistic about the future. The present conditions index is at the highest point in two years. The 50 point rate cut has builders drooling at the thought of another 90 days of bargain rates to fuel their sales. Despite the enthusiasm it does appear that luxury homes are slowing drastically while average houses are still in demand. DHI said they had $2.8 billion in delivery backlog on signed contracts. Their biggest problem was finding lots to expand with. Even without any further gains in housing 2002 will go out as the strongest year in the last two decades. Wednesday will have further info on this sector with the MBA Mortgage Application Survey and New Residential Construction. Tomorrow could be another struggle. We are slowly putting in a series of lower highs and the Dow is steadily completing a head and shoulders pattern with potentially disastrous results. This week is typically bullish for the markets with the S&P posting gains for nine consecutive years. Considering the last two days it will be starting from a deficit if it is going to stretch this streak to ten. The Nasdaq was the weakest index for two consecutive days and closed today at a four day low after failing at a quadruple top on Monday. The Nasdaq has risk to 1320 and with continuing comments about no IT recovery in sight it could reach it. The Dow dipped to 8400 at the open and rebounded to resistance at 8550 before slipping back to 8450 just before the close. This is decent support but fear of GE and economic risks could continue to weigh on the Dow to near 8300. That would also complete the right shoulder and set up a potential disaster. However, not all H&S patterns collapse and some rebound upon completion. Regardless of the eventual outcome the immediate outlook is not bright. There is significant overhead resistance and every bounce is met with selling. Unless conditions change the risks remain weighted to the downside with no positive stock news to energize investors. The longest bear market in history 1039 days during the great depression. Today was the 1040th day for the current bear market. Because of the +18% Dow gain off the October lows some say this bear market was over then but without some confirmation soon this could eventually go down as the longest in history. Enter Very Passively, Exit Aggressively! Jim Brown Editor *********** FUTURES MARKETS *********** No Man’s Land By John Seckinger [email protected] The ES, NQ, and YM contract have all failed to breakout to the upside; however, there has not been any real technical damage to the downside either. Tuesday, November 19th at 4:15 P.M. Contract Net Change High Low Volume ES02Z 898.00 -1.75 905.75 892.50 553,268 YM02Z 8476.00 -4.00 8541.00 8398.00 19,727 NQ02Z 1033.50 -15.50 1048.00 1019.00 314,317 ES02Z = E-mini SP500 futures YM02Z = E-mini Dow $5 futures NQ02Z = E-mini NDX 100 futures Note: The 02Z suffix stands for 2002, December, and will change as the exchanges shift the contract month. The contract months are March, June, September, and December. The volume stats are from Q-charts. Fundamental News: Bear Stearns downgraded Amazon.com, while Raymond James downgraded Microsoft. Other negatives included Home Depot’s poor outlook, which was responsible for taking shares lower by 12.41% to 25.05. In other news, Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on drug wholesaler stocks; however, Goldman then defended the sector as companies within that sector came under pressure. On the economic front, the CPI numbers (core and non-core) came in as expected (+0.2 and +0.3%, respectively), while the trade deficit numbers came in a bit wider than expectations (38 versus 37.3 billion). Both reports seemed to be ignored by market participants. Technical News: The dollar (DX00Y) traded in a relatively large range on Tuesday (104.71 to 105.88), encompassing the range of the prior four sessions. Closing at 105.62 and currently at its highest level since November 5th, this index should be closely watched going forward. A bid in the dollar could squash speculation of deflation, and at the same time get foreigners involved in the US equity market. Another interesting chart pattern comes from the ZB02F (Dec 30-year) contract, closing higher by 0’22 ticks at 112’07 and setting its third day of higher highs and higher lows. However, prices have still managed to set relatively lower highs and higher lows when looking at the last few weeks. The current range for the contract (based on trend lines from longer-term relative highs and lows) appears to be from 110’05 (upward sloping line) to 113’00 (downward sloping). A close outside of this recent wedge should portend a significant move in stocks. ================================================================= Intermediate Indecisiveness Looking at a 120-minute chart of the Dow, the mid point within the Bollinger Bands coincides almost exactly with the Dow’s settlement on Tuesday. Moreover, the blue chips are still within a wedge pattern (green lines) and nearing its apex at 8531. A close below 8405 or above 8668 should turn sentiment to bearish or bullish readings, respectively. As always, watch for traps. If the Dow closes above 8668, it should not then reverse and close underneath (read: trapping longs). Currently, it feels as though we are in a range-bound market; however, a break through one of these two levels could signal otherwise. Resistance before reaching 8668 is seen at 8547 and 8600 (bearish green trend line). Until the Dow makes a strong move in either direction, it makes sense to look towards selling resistance and buying support. As far as our 8000 long-term objective is concerned, it remains intact. Chart of Dow Jones, 120-minute Turning to a 15-minute chart of the YM02Z contract, stochastics also indicate a possibly oversold market. As with the Dow, the YM is currently on its Bollinger Band mid point and nestled between the 8500 pivot and support at the rising trend line (red). Because stochastics have worked recently and been useful for selling resistance and buying support levels, look to Go SHORT YM02Z contract at 8550 with a target at 8475 and stop at 8580. Moreover, if the market begins to fall, Go LONG at 8434 (first blue horizontal line) with a target at 8500 and stop at 8400. Light volume would work well for these positions. Chart of YM02Z, 15-minute The E-mini Nasdaq 100 also has been recently range bound; failing to test its mid point Bollinger Band on Tuesday (currently at 1048) and bouncing from 1023. The intermediate blue trend line remains intact as well, coming in at 1000. With that said, look to Go LONG NQ02Z contract at 1000 with a target of 1017 and stop at 994. If the market gaps underneath 1000, look to Go LONG at 984 with 1000 as a target and 972 as a stop level. Chart of NQ02Z, 60 minute A 5-minute chart of the NQ02Z reflects a market that is actually overbought, via stochastics and descending trend line (red). The 1017 objective (paragraph above) was based upon this falling red line (see chart below); therefore, adjust exits accordingly if a lot of TIME passes and the red line falls underneath 1017. As the chart also shows, there is an area between 1029 and 1023 that would seem to put the market in a very neutral environment. If prices fail to fall to 1000 but remain around the 1025 level, wait for a move before acting. A bounce from these levels could send the index towards 1050 and 1058, but continue to expect resistance there. The index could move from 1050 to 1058, or 1060 to 1073; however, there is certainly a lot more risk buying a breakout in this environment. The market will now have to prove to me that it makes sense to buy resistance and sell support. Chart of NQ02Z, 5-minute A 120-minute chart of the December S&P 500 contract has two intermediate trend lines hitting prices at almost exactly the 898 close. The MACD is trending lower, but the contract is in the middle of the Bollinger Bands (yes, the pattern continues). There appears to be more risk to the downside, but it is important to wait for the market to confirm such thoughts. A close above 905.50 would be bullish for the contract, but I would instead prefer to see a close above 910.50 before looking towards 927 and getting bullish. Note: Green line is actually 896.50. Chart of December S&P 500, 120-minute Taking things to a more practical level, stochastics on a 5- minute chart shows overbought conditions and the likelihood of a pullback to the 890.25 level. A possible trade could be to Go SHORT ES02Z at 894.75 with a target of 890.25; however, the stop should be placed near 899 and it would make for a bad risk/reward scenario. Therefore, How about going LONG at 890.25 with a target of 900 and stop at 885.25. Only problem with this is that 885.75 is the close on November 13th and still needs to be hit if the recent daily gap is to be closed. This is exactly why I called this wrap “No Man’s Land.” I would look for strong bids at 885.75, and a potential trade would be to go long there with a target of 895 and stop at 880.75. On the upside, look to Go SHORT at 909 with a target of 900 and stop at 914, above good resistance during November 18th. Chart of ES02Z, 5-minute Good Luck. Questions are welcomed, John Seckinger [email protected] **************** INDEX TRADER SUMMARY **************** Check the Site Later Tonight For Jeff’s Index Trader Article http://members.OptionInvestor.com/itrader/marketwrap/111902_1.asp ********************Advertisement********************* Tired of waiting on trades to execute? Does your broker offer Stop Losses on Options? Trade instantly with Stop Losses at PreferredTrade Inc. Stop Losses based on the option price or the stock price. Move your trading into the next millennium with PreferredTrade. Anything else is too slow! http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ************ MARKET SENTIMENT ************ Patience, Patience by Steven Price On a day when the Dow lost fewer than 12 points, there was an awful lot of red on my screen. Of course the Nasdaq lost 19 points, contributing to the crimson tide, but as I see it, the most ominous signs came from outside the tech sector. Home Depot reported earnings that matched expectations, but said same store sales were down 2%, which was a stark contrast to its previous forecast of 2-4% growth. The company also said it is "cautious on the economy into next year." This would seem consistent with The National Association of Home Builders Remodeling Market Index, which was released today, and fell three points to 49.8. Anything below 50 means remodelers view the market as unfavorable and suggests to me that the recent wave of home refinancing may be slowing down, in spite of rates being lowered again earlier this month. One of the biggest sources of consumer spending has been dollars taken from home sales and refinancing. Alan Greenspan's testimony of November 13 stated, "(R)oughly half of equity extractions are allocated to the combination of personal consumption expenditures and outlays on home modernization." If we see a slowdown in that area, then I'm not sure where else we'll get dollars to support current spending levels. While Home Depot is not the traditional retailer that relies on the holiday shopping season for an enormous chunk of its business, we continue to get warnings from retailers that do rely heavily on the season. Wal-Mart and Federated both made cautious statements on Monday about November same store sales being lower than expected and today that sentiment was echoed by BJ's Wholesale Club, which said November sales were below plan and made cautious comments about 2003. A.G. Edwards analyst Robert Buchanan lowered the stock to a sell, saying the company had already thrown in the towel for next year. The Bank of Tokyo's weekly chain store sales report also showed a 1.2% decline last week. As we head into the holiday season, which is already six official shopping days shorter than last year (due to a later Thanksgiving), a reluctance to spend could foreshadow another weak year for consumer spending. Economic data released this morning showed a 0.3% rise in the Consumer Price Index for October, fueled mostly by a 1.9% rise in energy prices. The core rate jumped 0.2%, which was in line with expectations. Prices are up 2% over the last year. The trade deficit also narrowed slightly, dropping $300 million to $38 billion. The small increase in CPI keeps the Fed in the clear, after lowering the overnight rate by 50 basis points on November 6. A jump in CPI would indicate inflationary pressure, which is combated by raising rates. The slight rise was nothing severe and indicates inflation is not currently an issue. The head and shoulders pattern in the Dow and SPX, talked about several times in this space, appears to be taking shape, with the recent high of Dow 8636 and SPX 915 looking like the possible top of a right shoulder. The fact that the Dow is now back under 8500 and the SPX is below support at 900 have me leaning to the bearish side of the market, after donning bulls horns briefly last week. I'm not particularly concerned about what "should" be happening and I am more than happy to change hats as often as the market dictates. Traders need to remember that there should be no loyalty to a direction. We simply jump on for the ride, no matter how short or long it may be. Long-term opinions are for the 401k, not for short-term opportunities. While I am leaning bearish, we must realize that the Nasdaq Composite is still in a pattern of higher lows for the moment. It has not been able to set a higher high above the August top of 1426, but the last two pullbacks stopped at 1279 and 1319. The current pullback to 1374 keeps that trend alive, so look for a break below 1319 as the more decisive breakdown. Part of the reason the Nasdaq has been slightly schizophrenic and difficult to protect is the fact that the chip sector is bouncing around without a defined trend. It pulled back today, dropping 7.40 to 312, but bounced off 310, which had been previous resistance back in September. The group has mirrored the higher low - lower high pattern of the COMP and right now is not giving us much to work with. The news out of the sector has certainly been negative, but it was negative for the last two months, during a 50% gain, as well. Traders can lean short here, but the trend is not terribly strong. A breakdown of the H&S neckline in the Dow between 8350- 8400 would show a stronger downtrend, but until we get that I would be playing with smaller positions than usual. The same goes for the Nasdaq. Sometimes it's frustrating to sit on the sidelines, but we must remember two rules: 1) There will always be opportunities that present themselves and if you must force it, play small; and 2) Always make sure you can come back and play tomorrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Market Averages DJIA ($INDU) 52-week High: 10673 52-week Low : 7197 Current : 8474 Moving Averages: (Simple) 10-dma: 8512 50-dma: 8172 200-dma: 9218 S&P 500 ($SPX) 52-week High: 1176 52-week Low : 768 Current : 896 Moving Averages: (Simple) 10-dma: 897 50-dma: 867 200-dma: 989 Nasdaq-100 ($NDX) 52-week High: 1734 52-week Low : 795 Current : 1025 Moving Averages: (Simple) 10-dma: 1027 50-dma: 935 200-dma: 1133 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Retail Index (RLX.X): We are starting to see the cracks in the dike after last week's bullish earnings releases. Wal-Mart started the week by warning that November sales were coming in under target. That was followed by similar warnings from Federated and BJ's Wholesale club, which went so far as to give cautious statements for all of 2003. Even Home Depot got into the act, by giving notice that same store sales for the month were not only not showing the previously forecast 2% growth, but would be down 2-4%. The RLX has sold off the last two days, and may test the recent low of 273 before the week is over. 52-week High: n/a (recalculated in June) 52-week Low : 253 Current : 319 Moving Averages: (Simple) 10-dma: 282 50-dma: 283 200-dma: 317 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Market Volatility The VIX barely broke through its 200-dma at 31.25, before bouncing off 30. It is hovering over that level for the moment, and has not closed under 30 since June 28. If the current sideways movement in the market continues we may actually see the 20s in the near future. However, the head and shoulders pattern that appears to be forming in the Dow and SPX is likely raising a few eyebrows and until we get a decisive move up, we may see the VIX also holding this level. In the case of an H&S breakdown, look for the VIX to trade 35-40. CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) = 31.36 +0.25 Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index (VXN) = 45.52 –2.57 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Put/Call Ratio Call Volume Put Volume Total 0.81 461,795 371,788 Equity Only 0.72 377,520 273,281 OEX 1.04 10,790 11,258 QQQ 1.07 44,696 48,007 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bullish Percent Data Current Change Status NYSE 42 + 2 Bull Confirmed NASDAQ-100 69 + 1 Bull Confirmed Dow Indust. 67 + 0 Bull Confirmed S&P 500 56 + 0 Bull Alert S&P 100 64 - 1 Bull Confirmed Bullish percent measures the number of stocks in an index currently trading on a buy signal on their point and figure chart. Readings above 70 are considered overbought, and readings below 30 are considered oversold. Bull Confirmed - Aggressively long Bull Alert - Cautiously long Bull Correction - Pause or pullback in upward trend Bear Alert - Take defensive action if long Bear Confirmed - High risk if long, good conditions for shorting Bear Correction - Pause or rebound in downtrend ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5-Day Arms Index 0.85 10-Day Arms Index 1.26 21-Day Arms Index 1.15 55-Day Arms Index 1.20 Extreme readings above 1.5 are bullish, and readings below .85 are bearish. These signals don't occur often and tend be early, but when they do, they can signal significant market turning points. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Market Internals Advancers Decliners NYSE 1174 1554 NASDAQ 1316 1820 New Highs New Lows NYSE 21 34 NASDAQ 50 50 Volume (in millions) NYSE 1,619 NASDAQ 1,615 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Commitments Of Traders Report: 11/12/02 Weekly COT report discloses positions held by small specs and commercial traders of index futures contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade. COT data can be found at www.cftc.gov. Small specs are the general trading public with commercials being financial institutions. Commercials are historically on the correct side of future trend changes while small specs tend to be wrong. S&P 500 Commercials increased short positions by 4,000 contracts, while slightly reducing the long side. Small traders increased long positions by 3,000 contracts, while reducing the short side by 6,000. Commercials Long Short Net % Of OI 10/22/02 432,775 463,827 (31,052) (3.5%) 10/29/02 437,565 468,557 (30,992) (3.4%) 11/05/02 438,546 472,384 (33,838) (3.7%) 11/12/02 437,683 476,540 (38,857) (4.3%) Most bearish reading of the year: (111,956) - 3/6/02 Most bullish reading of the year: ( 16,472) - 10/01/02 Small Traders Long Short Net % of OI 10/22/02 134,641 72,681 61,960 29.8% 10/29/02 137,740 75,587 62,153 29.1% 11/05/02 138,604 76,032 65,572 30.5% 11/12/02 141,389 70,624 70,765 33.4% Most bearish reading of the year: 36,513 - 5/01/01 Most bullish reading of the year: 114,510 - 3/26/02 NASDAQ-100 Commercials reduced the long side by 3,500 contracts while leaving the short side virtually unchanged. Small traders, on the other hand, reduced short positions by 4,000 contracts and longs by just 700. Commercials Long Short Net % of OI 10/22/02 48,954 54,088 (5,134) ( 4.9%) 10/29/02 47,837 55,261 (7,324) ( 7.1%) 11/05/02 49,128 56,121 (6,993) ( 6.6%) 11/12/02 45,647 55,892 (10,245) (10.1%) Most bearish reading of the year: (15,521) - 3/13/02 Most bullish reading of the year: 9,068 - 06/11/02 Small Traders Long Short Net % of OI 10/22/02 10,202 8,892 1,310 6.6% 10/29/02 10,584 9,419 1,165 5.8% 11/05/02 13,355 12,903 452 1.7% 11/12/02 12,698 8,801 3,897 18.1% Most bearish reading of the year: (10,769) - 06/11/02 Most bullish reading of the year: 8,460 - 3/13/02 DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL Commercials left positions relatively unchanged, with a slight reduction in both longs and shorts. Small traders increased the long side slightly and left shorts around the same level. Commercials Long Short Net % of OI 10/22/02 22,189 13,448 8,741 24.5% 10/29/02 21,800 13,337 8,463 24.1% 11/05/02 22,533 15,687 6,846 17.9% 11/12/02 22,283 14,953 7,330 19.6% Most bearish reading of the year: (8,322) - 1/16/01 Most bullish reading of the year: 15,135 - 10/16/01 Small Traders Long Short Net % of OI 10/22/02 4,445 9,270 (4,825) (35.1%) 10/29/02 5,602 11,090 (5,488) (32.9%) 11/05/02 5,089 8,735 (3,646) (26.4%) 11/12/02 5,736 8,513 (2,777) (19.5) Most bearish reading of the year: (8,777) - 10/12/01 Most bullish reading of the year: 1,909 - 1/16/01 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ********************Advertisement********************* ”If you haven’t traded options online – you haven’t really traded options,” claims author Larry Spears in his new compact guide book: “7 Steps to Success – Trading Options Online”. Order today and save 25% (only $15) by clicking on PreferredTrade and clicking on the link to the book on its home page. http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ********************* WEEKLY MANAGER MICROSCOPE ********************* Life Sciences Funds This week, we take a look at stock funds specializing in the life sciences sector and related industries including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical products/supplies and healthcare services. These specialized healthcare funds seek long-term capital growth by investing principally in companies engaged in the business of providing products and services that help promote personal health and wellness. Life sciences funds are suitable for risk-tolerant investors that seek long-term growth of capital, and are interested in the long- term potential of the life sciences sector but don't want to pick their own common stocks. By risk tolerant, we mean investors who can tolerate high share price fluctuations, and are interested in an aggressive, concentrated sector fund. Accordingly, they serve an "explore" role in one's long-term portfolio. The pickings for life sciences funds are slim, so we kept it very simple by reviewing all five fund candidates that we were able to identify. In the next section, we show you how we identified and evaluated them based on various selection criteria. Search Process We began our search this week by using various mutual fund lookup tools online (Bloomberg, Morningstar and MSN Money) to search for funds with the words "life sciences" in the fund name. That gave us four potential fund options for personal investors as follows: American Century Life Sciences (ALSIX) Exeter Life Sciences A (EXLSX) Gartmore Global Life Sciences A (GLSAX) Janus Global Life Sciences (JAGLX) Note that Janus Global Life Sciences (JAGLX) Fund remains closed to new investors at this time. At $1.4 billion in assets, don't look for the group's largest mutual fund to reopen any time soon, but you never know. We next identified related funds, using Bloomberg's fund reports. That effort yielded the following additional fund names: Vanguard Healthcare (VGHCX) ICON Healthcare (ICHCX) Fidelity Select: Medical Delivery (FSHCX) Fidelity Select: Medical Equipment/Systems (FSMEX) Long-term investors seeking exposure to the broad health care sector (rather than just the life sciences industry) will find the Vanguard Healthcare Fund and ICON Healthcare Fund to their liking. Those that want to target medical delivery and medical equipment and systems industries specifically have two Fidelity Select portfolios worth considering. We next took the four life sciences funds, including the closed Janus Global Life Sciences Fund, and the four related funds and put them into Morningstar's Fund Compare tool, available online at www.morningstar.com. That allowed us to compare the results based on their portfolio characteristics and management, return and risk data, and other factors such as cost and expense ratio. Gartmore Global Life Sciences Fund is relatively new, and isn't in Morningstar's system yet. The $159 million American Century Life Sciences Fund (ALSIX) and $119 million Exeter Life Sciences Fund (EXLSX) are in Morningstar's system, but are not rated yet. The only "life sciences" fund with a rating is Janus Global Life Sciences Fund (JAGLX) which is currently closed to new investors and sports only a Morningstar 2-star overall rating. Among the four related funds, three of them currently are 5-star rated by Morningstar for risk-adjusted performance in comparison to their healthcare sector fund peers. The fourth fund holds an average 3-star overall rating. In the next section, we tell you which "life sciences" fund we like the best, and which "related" fund we favor. Exeter Life Sciences A (EXLSX) Exeter Life Sciences Series Fund is an open-end fund that seeks long-term growth by investing primarily in stocks of companies involved in life sciences and related industries. Examples of the areas that management focuses on are drugs/pharmaceuticals, bio-technology, medical products and supplies, and health care services. A recent Reuters article from September 2002 indicates that the fund's portfolio includes a number of major pharmaceuticals and companies that make life sciences research equipment, otherwise known as "life sciences tools." One example is Millipore Corp. (NYSE: MIL), which represented 4.7% of net assets at October 31, 2002. Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) is the portfolio's largest holding, representing 9.0% of fund assets at the end of October. Boston Scientific is one of several companies vying for the top spot in the "stent" market (tiny stents are inserted in clogged arteries), a huge and growing billion-dollar market. Exeter Life Sciences Fund is a concentrated portfolio, with 57% of net assets in the fund's top 10 holdings (31 total holdings), per Morningstar's report. Morningstar's style analysis puts it in the mid-cap growth style box though that reflects the fund's average market capitalization of $5.6 billion. Fund assets are spread across all market capitalizations, so the term "all-cap" or "multi-cap" growth would also apply. In 2000, the fund's first full year of operation, it earned an 87.3% total return for investors, ranking in the top 7% of its Morningstar category (specialty-health funds). The Exeter team managed portfolio earned an 11.7% total return in 2001, ranking it in the top 1% of the specialty-health category. So far this year, the Exeter life sciences fund has declined 14.2% on a YTD basis thru November 18, 2002, ranking in the category's top 11%, so it's done a good job this year of limiting losses versus its health sector fund peers. Exeter Life Sciences Fund's ability to capture return and limit depreciation has resulted in one of the best 3-year records now. As of November 18, 2002, the fund had a 3-year annualized total return of 21.6%, ranking in the top 1% of the health fund group, per Morningstar. That compares with an annualized loss of 13.0% by the broad S&P 500 index for the same period. Unfortunately, the Exeter Life Sciences Funds doesn't have wide brokerage availability. Morningstar's latest report lists only one program, Invesmart iDirect under the brokerage availability section. Minimum initial investment in the fund is $2,000, and $0 for an initial IRA investment. The Exeter Fund's 800 number is 800-466-3863. You may be able to purchase the Life Sciences mutual fund product directly. Considering that biotech and drugs have imploded, this fund has done a superior job in its short history compared with category peers of capturing return and limiting the portfolio's downside risk. ICON Healthcare (ICHCX) Investors that don't want to limit their healthcare exposure to the "life sciences" or "medical equipment/systems" areas of the healthcare market may like the more diversified ICON Healthcare Fund (ICHCX). It seeks long-term growth of capital by normally investing at least 65% of net assets in securities of companies primarily engaged in the healthcare industry. Industry baskets include such areas as biotechnology, health care distributors & services, health care equipment, health care facilities; health care supplies, managed health care, and pharmaceuticals (drugs). Meridian Investment Management has served as the fund's adviser since its February 21, 1997 inception, using a "team management" approach that aims to capture changing themes by rotating among industry subsectors as they move from undervalued to overvalued status. ICON Healthcare Fund is not bound to any one style box, and will hold a stock while it may migrate in size from small to large market capitalization (and in style from value to growth). Morningstar puts it in the mid-cap growth style box as a whole. Per the ICON Funds' website (www.iconfunds.com), the Healthcare portfolio's top 10 holdings comprised a third of fund assets as of September 30, 2002. The fund's largest holding was Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT), which derives about 40% of its revenues from pharmaceuticals. ICON Healthcare Fund, like the Exeter Life Sciences Series funds, has done a good job of capturing returns and minimizing downside risk relative to other specialty-healthcare funds. In the first three years (1996, 1997 and 1998), the fund returned 15.3%, 3.8% and 43.0%, respectively, competitive but not superior versus its category peers. In 2001 and 2002, the ICON Healthcare portfolio has exhibited very little downside volatility, falling just 3.2% in 2001 and giving up just 5.7% since December 31, 2001, ranking it in the top 1% of the healthcare fund category per Morningstar. Over the last three years, ICON Healthcare Fund has generated an average annual return of 12.9% through November 18, 2002, to put it in the category's top decile (6th percentile) for performance. The fund's trailing 5-year average total return of 9.6% was 9.1% better a year on average than the broad S&P 500 index and strong enough to place in the category's top quintile (18th percentile). So, while the fund lagged slightly through the 1996-1998 upswing, it handled the ensuing market correction much better than similar funds, resulting in a Morningstar 5-star (highest) overall rating for relative risk-adjusted return performance. At 1.45%, the fund's expense ratio is below average in comparison to the 1.78% category average, per Morningstar. While that's not cheap, ICON Healthcare Fund has a low minimum initial purchase of $1,000 for regular and IRA accounts and is available on a no-load NTF basis through several fund networks, including Charles Schwab OneSource, adding to its appeal. Long-term, risk-tolerant mutual fund investors seeking healthcare exposure have a suitable option here. For more information or a fund prospectus, call 1-800-764-0442 or logon to the ICON Funds at www.iconfunds.com. Conclusion Vanguard Healthcare Fund (VGHCX) is also Morningstar 5-star rated and also offers exposure to the broad healthcare sector. It also would be an appropriate option for long-term investors who prefer a more broadly diversified portfolio of health-related companies. The other life sciences funds identified this week are either not open to new investors or too young or tiny to be in Morningstar's database, or to be rated. Exeter Life Sciences Series funds have limited network availability but may be purchasable directly from the Exeter Fund Inc (800-466-3863). Call to find out more if you are interested. We showed you ICON Healthcare Fund also as an alternative to life sciences funds. It may be a suitable choice if you don't want to limit your health care investments to stocks of companies engaged principally in life sciences areas and desire broader health care sector exposure. Steve Wagner Editor, Mutual Investor [email protected] ********************Advertisement********************* If you trade options online, then you need an online broker that: offers true direct access to each option exchange offers stop and stop loss online option orders offers contingent option orders based on the price of the option or stock offers online spread order entry for net debit or credit offers fast option executions PreferredTrade offers these online option trading features and more; call 1-888-889-9178 or click for more information. http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ******************* SWING TRADER GAME PLANS ******************* Another Step Closer The day did not go well for the bulls. The Dow nearly completed a round trip by dropping to 8400 at the open, rebounding to 8550 and sinking back to 8442 just before the close. The day posted another lower high and closed at a four day low. This is not encouraging for the November bulls. To read the rest of the Swing Trader Game Plan Click here: http://www.OptionInvestor.com/itrader/indexes/swing.asp FREE TRIAL READERS ************** If you like the results you have been receiving we would welcome you as a permanent subscriber. The monthly subscription price is 39.95. The quarterly price is 99.95 which is $20 off the monthly rate. We would like to have you as a subscriber. You may subscribe at any time but your subscription will not start until your free trial is over. To subscribe you may go to our website at www.OptionInvestor.com and click on "subscribe" to use our secure credit card server or you may simply send an email to "Contact Support" with your credit card information,(number, exp date, name) or you may call us at 303-797-0200 and give us the information over the phone. You may also fax the information to: 303-797-1333 ****** DISCLAIMER ****** Please read our disclaimer at: http://www.OptionInvestor.com/page/oin/aboutus/disclaimer.html ********************************************************** ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in OptionInvestor Newsletter, or any Premier Investor Network newsletter please contact: Contact Support The Option Investor Newsletter Tuesday 11-19-2002 Copyright 2002, All rights reserved. 2 of 3 Redistribution in any form strictly prohibited. In Section Two: Dropped Calls: BBOX, FFIV Dropped Puts: ABC Daily Results Call Play Updates: CEPH, GNSS, HOV, AIG, FRX New Calls Plays: IMCL Put Play Updates: GE, IDPH, PG, New Put Plays: TRMS ************ PICKS WE DROPPED ************ When we drop a pick it doesn't mean we are recommending a sell on that play. Many dropped picks go on to be very profitable. We drop a pick because something happened to change its profile. News, price, direction, etc. We drop it because we don't want anyone else starting a new play at that time. We have hundreds of new readers with each issue who are unfamiliar with the previous history for that pick and we want them to look at any current pick as a valid play. CALLS: * BBOX $45.22 -0.68 (-1.60 for the week) Black Box appeared on the verge of an upside breakout when we added it over the weekend, but 1it has pulled back sharply the last couple of days, and rather than looking as though it might bounce on a pullback to $45, it appears as though sellers were still pounding the stock into the close. We highlighted two possible entry points for conservative traders, which would have been a breakout over $48, giving a new PnF buy signal, or a pullback to support at $45. While we certainly didn't get the first, the action in the Nasdaq and the end of day sell-off in BBOX makes the second alternative appear less likely, as well. Rather than hope for an entry point, we'll close the play and look for better momentum elsewhere. --- FFIV $12.23 -0.43 (-0.90) After rallying more than 100% off the October lows, FFIV was overdue for a bit of profit-taking, and it seems that our addition of the stock to our call list was just the catalyst to get that process moving. While this could be just normal profit taking, with the weakness in the broader Technology market, we're concerned that the recent bullish trend has effectively come to an end. Simply put, the risk to reward in the trade is looking less favorable with the 200-dma at $13.60 providing a firm ceiling on the last two rally attempts. If currently in the play, use another intraday rally near resistance to exit those positions. PUTS: * ABC $59.00 -4.40 (-6.01) Did you follow our instructions? Over the weekend, we recommended using a decline into the $57-58 area to harvest gains on open positions. This morning's Goldman Sachs downgrade had shares of ABC gapping down to the $56 level, which was an even better result than we had hoped. The stock rebounded off that level pretty quickly and then spent the bulk of the session consolidating in the $58-59 area. At current levels, the play no longer makes sense on a risk/reward basis. If still holding open positions, either set a tight stop at $59.50 or harvest your gains on any weakness near the $58 level. ******************************************************* DAILY RESULTS ******************************************************* Please view this in COURIER 10 font for alignment ********************************************* AIG 66.57 -1.40 0.07 Relative Strength BBOX 45.22 -1.16 -0.68 Drop, no entry CEPH 55.07 0.71 -1.39 Holding $55 FFIV 12.23 -0.59 -0.43 Drop, no follow through FRX 103.82 -1.56 -0.38 Support at $103.50 GNSS 16.34 0.01 -1.26 No PnF reversal HOV 31.70 -1.35 -0.95 Entry point IMCL 12.59 -0.77 1.15 New, Higher consolidation PUTS ABC 59.00 -1.85 -4.40 Drop, Profits GE 23.90 -0.42 0.30 lower low IDPH 38.25 -1.31 -1.09 Weak under $39 PG 87.10 -1.15 0.95 Only Dow on sell signal TRMS 47.71 -1.97 -0.62 New, Changing lanes ********************Advertisement********************* Tired of waiting on trades to execute? Does your broker offer Stop Losses on Options? Trade instantly with Stop Losses at PreferredTrade Inc. Stop Losses based on the option price or the stock price. Move your trading into the next millennium with PreferredTrade. Anything else is too slow! http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** **************** PLAY UPDATES - CALLS **************** CEPH $55.07 -1.39 (-0.64 for the week) Cephalon has been pretty volatile lately, after its recent run from $40 up to $58.67. The stock pulled back after a downgrade a couple of days ago. However, that downgrade was somewhat tenuous, based on the sector having performed well and advice to take profits, as well as future unsuccessful challenges from generic drug makers to CEPH's anti-fatigue drug Provigil. While Provigil has been approved only for narcolepsy to this point, sales have doubled in the last year and it has been discussed for use with sleep apnea and Parkinson's disease, for which the company will be submitting FDA applications. The company has shown a lot of strength lately, based on across the board product sales, and recently raised its earnings guidance after large sales increases. The stock blew through its 200-dma just over $51, after consolidating on a pullback to $50. That consolidation pattern appears to be repeating itself at $55, where the most recent pullback has found support. While traders long at $55.50 could have turned a nice profit on the move just after we picked it, we are sticking with the stock on the pullback. Not many stocks go straight up without some intermediate consolidation and as long as the consolidation takes place at successively higher levels, then the bullish trend is still in tact. As long as CEPH continues to find buyers at $55, we'll hang on for another run at $60. New entries can look for continued intraday support at $55, keeping in mind a failure at that level and then resistance below it is a bearish sign. We'll leave the current stop at $53.00. --- GNSS $16.34 -1.26 (-0.83 for the week) Genesis' recent breakout was a bullish catapult on the point and figure chart, which is a triple top followed by a double top. It's a very bullish formation and is supported by the company's presence in a market that is growing by leaps and bounds. The flat panel monitor business is expected to ship 6.3 million units in 2002, but as many as 97 million in 2005. The projector market, used by consumers and businesses, is projected to grow from just under 700,000 in 2001 to at least 12 million by 2005. Today the company announced that its FLI2310 digital video format converter was chosen by Sharp for its new series of LCD televisions, another growing market. The most recent buy signal came at $16.00. Today's pullback, following an RBC downgrade that said it had reached its price target, found support just above that breakout level. The stock broke through its 200-dma on Monday, trading as high as $18.95, which indicates $19 will be the next hurdle for Genesis. After setting its third higher high, today's retracement and bounce above $16 is the stock's third higher low. New entries can look for a move back over the 200-dma of $17.00, and also today's high of $17.10, as an entry point. We will leave our stop at $13 for the time being, allowing for any continued pullback to still maintain the pattern of higher lows. If we do get a continued pullback, then we will watch for signs of intraday support before recommending new entries. --- HOV $31.70 -0.95 (-2.30 for the week) Hovanian got a bullish point and figure reversal with its trade of $34 on Friday, after which it pulled back on Monday and Tuesday. The pullback stopped short of $31.00, which would have reversed the signal back down again and also remained above its ascending 200-dma. That 200- dma has proven highly resilient; giving the stock a boost the last four times it has been approached. We recommended entry on either the $34 buy signal, which we got, or a pullback above support at $31 in the original play write-up. While we aren't thrilled with the pullback from $34, the current level still looks like an entry point, with even better risk reward. The housing market has been somewhat erratic lately, but its gains still remain strong. There is a large backlog of homes still waiting to be built in 2003 and mortgage rates are once again reaching new lows. The tremendous increases seen in September and October orders bode well for the company's full year earnings, although we are bound to see some seasonal slowdown, as evidenced by last weeks 4.3% drop in mortgage applications (following a 13.3% jump the previous week). We will leave our stop at $30, as that would be the first 200-dma break of the year. --- AIG $66.57 +0.07 (-1.32) With a lack of positive catalyst the broad market has been under pressure this week and we've seen some mild profit taking in the Insurance sector (IUX.X) through Tuesday's close. It was interesting however, to note that the IUX finished Tuesday's session with a slight gain. The mild gyrations in the sector this week have gradually dropped AIG down near the $66 level, where buyers stepped in to provide support at the end of the day. Volume has been light so far this week as the stock has pulled back, and the key will be how AIG behaves in the $65-66 area. This was the formidable resistance that AIG cleared late last week and if that breakout was for real, then we ought to see that former resistance level act as support. An intraday dip in this area that is followed by solid buying can be used to initiate new positions. More aggressive traders can even consider entering a bounce from the vicinity of $64 (which should be stronger support), but keep in mind that a close under our $63.50 stop would be a bad sign and have us dropping the play in short order. Trader's looking to chase AIG higher will need to wait for a push through the $68 level, confirmed by the IUX rallying through the $275 resistance level. --- FRX $103.82 -0.38 (-1.93) Consolidation and mild profit-taking have been the name of the game this week both in the broad markets and our FRX play. After settling at new all-time highs on both Thursday and Friday last week, a bit of profit taking is a welcome development, as it appears to be setting us up for the next solid entry point. After breaking above $100 last month, FRX consolidated for an extended period before staging the breakout move we saw last week. Traders that took advantage of the intraday dips near the $100 level were rewarded with a nice move to above $106 last week. We're looking for a repeat performance from the stock, just at a higher level. That means we aren't interested in chasing the stock higher, but want to look to initiate new positions on a pullback and rebound from support. The key support level now is $103.50, which was the resistance that held FRX back until last week's breakout. While aggressive traders can look for entries on intraday dips as low as $102.50 (just above the 10-dma), they need to be careful about trying to catch a falling knife. If FRX breaks $102, we'll drop the play as it will likely indicate the stock is falling back into its $99-102 consolidation range. ********** NEW CALL PLAYS ************ IMCL – Imclone Systems $12.60 +1.16 (+0.83 this week) Company Summary: Engaged in the research and development of novel cancer treatments, IMCL focuses on growth factor inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines and angiogenesis inhibitors. The company's lead product candidate, IMC-C225, is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody that inhibits stimulation of a receptor for growth factors upon which certain tumors depend. Phase I/II clinical trials have been promising. The lead candidate for angiogenesis inhibition, IMC-1C11 is an antibody that binds selectively and with high affinity to KDR, a principal Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) receptor, thus inhibiting angiogenesis. Why We Like It: Beginning with the Enron fiasco, shady corporate dealings have been at the forefront of investors' collective consciousness for much of this year. While the subsequent investigations have brought enough dirty laundry into the light of day to result in numerous bankruptcies, not all of the corporate malfeasance poster children have gone away quietly. IMCL looked like it could do no wrong this time last year as it was trading near the $70 level. Rejection of the company's testing of its promising anti-cancer drug Erbitux along with alleged cover-ups of the holes in that testing led the stock to plunge more than 93% from its December 2001 highs. IMCL has been basing in the $6-10 range for much of the past 5 months, but saw a dramatic surge in buying volume propel it out of that range last week. While an argument can be made that a cessation of the daily news flow about corporate shenanigans by the company's former CEO could be allowing the stock to lift, given the heavy volume that accompanied last week's rebound, there has to be something more to the story. Sure enough, there is. Apparently there is a rumor that has been making the rounds that Bristol-Myers is considering purchasing the 80% of the company that it doesn't already own at a price of $19 a share. Whether there is any truth to the rumor or not, the fact that buying interest was strong again on Tuesday indicates there could very well be further upside. The PnF chart certainly bears that out, as the Buy signal generated last week with the breakout over $10 gives a bullish price target of $30.50. That's way beyond what looks reasonable over the near term, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a strong Buy signal to work with. Once above the $15 resistance level, the bulls will be setting their sights on the $19-20 level, and that is the level we will target for this play. The profit taking yesterday shows that the stock has decent intraday support near $11.50, so another bounce there can be used for new entries. The 200-dma at $12.56 is keeping a lid on the advance right now, but momentum traders can look to enter the play on a push through that level that continues through $13.50 (intraday resistance last Thursday and then again today). This is a high risk play due to the recent volatility, but with our stop placed at $10, the risk to reward ratio looks favorable. BUY CALL DEC-10 QCI-LB OI=2499 at $3.40 SL=1.75 BUY CALL DEC-12QCI-LV OI=1501 at $1.85 SL=1.00 BUY CALL DEC-15 QCI-LC OI=1219 at $1.00 SL=0.50 BUY CALL JAN-12 QCI-AV OI= 827 at $2.65 SL=1.25 BUY CALL JAN-15 QCI-AC OI=1631 at $1.75 SL=0.75 Average Daily Volume = 1.95 mln *********************Advertisement********************* ”If you haven’t traded options online – you haven’t really traded options,” claims author Larry Spears in his new compact guide book: “7 Steps to Success – Trading Options Online”. Order today and save 25% (only $15) by clicking on PreferredTrade and clicking on the link to the book on its home page. http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** *************** PLAY UPDATES - PUTS *************** GE $23.90 +0.30 (+0.04) Even as the broad market was rallying earlier this month, GE was a notable laggard, continuing to drift lower. Recently adding pressure to the stock was the JP Morgan downgrade last Friday, followed by concerns that the company may announce a large $1-2 billion restructuring charge (which would adversely affect earnings) at its analyst meeting on Thursday. Concerns about the latter issue were enough to pressure the stock down to $23.20 this morning, but the bulls managed to push it back up to post a fractional gain for the day. Note that Tuesday's close just below $24 has the stock beginning to find resistance (rather than the support of last week) at the top of the October 11th gap. This indicates that GE is destined to fill that gap down to the $22.60 level and possibly challenge the October lows near $21.50. Resistance near $25 is getting stronger by the day and failed rallies below this level still look good for new entries. Given the proximity of significant support, we don't advocate chasing the stock lower at this time. Lower stops to $25, as a rally through this level would break the pattern of lower highs. --- IDPH $38.25 -1.09 (-2.11) With the Biotechnology sector (BTK.X) unable to get through the $90 resistance level last week, the price weakness in shares of IDPH got our attention when they fell to the $40 level late last week. That decline solidified the PnF Sell signal, and this week's decline has extended the bearish price target down to $28. We were looking for a drop under $40 to confirm our bearish view on the stock, and the stock cooperatively delivered just that yesterday. While IDPH rebounded mildly from its low yesterday, the bears were back in control today after another failure to get back over the $40 level. Tuesday's early rally attempt gave way shortly after the open, with a steady decline into the close. Subsequent failed rallies below $40 can still be used for initiating new positions, while momentum traders will want to enter on a drop below the $37.50 level (just below Tuesday's intraday low. Watch for the possibility of an oversold rebound from the $35.50-36.00 level (the site of the October lows). Use such a rebound to harvest gains on open positions and look to re-enter at a higher level when that rebound runs into wiling sellers below the $40 level. Lower stops to $42. --- PG $87.10 +0.95 (-0.18) Rangebound has been the name of the game for shares of PG over the past couple weeks, as buyers and sellers jockey for position between resistance at $89 and support at $85. We've been looking for a breakdown under support to get the next leg of the decline moving. But contrary to the action in the broad market, PG actually lifted yesterday afternoon and this morning, rising to just below the $88 level before rolling lower again. That rollover could be just what we're looking for in the way of a bearish entry, although there is one note of concern being telegraphed by the intraday charts. While last week saw PG finding resistance at $87, that level represented support for the stock, once this morning and then again this afternoon. Conservative traders will want to wait for a breakdown under $86.75, confirmed by continued broad market weakness before opening new positions. In order to really get this play moving in our favor, we really need to see a volume-backed breakdown under its recent lows at $84.75, which can be used to initiate new momentum-based positions. Keep stops in place at $89. ********* NEW PUT PLAYS ********* TRMS - Trimeris - $47.71 -0.62 (-2.13 for the week) Company Summary: Trimeris, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of viral disease. The core technology platform of fusion inhibition is based on blocking viral entry into host cells. Trimeris has two anti-HIV drug candidates in clinical development. FUZEON, currently in Phase III clinical trials, is the most advanced compound in development. A New Drug Application (NDA) and Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) have been submitted for FUZEON with the US FDA and EU EMEA, respectively. Trimeris' second fusion inhibitor product candidate, T-1249, has received fast track status from the FDA and is in Phase I/II clinical testing. Trimeris is developing FUZEON and T-1249 in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche. Why We Like It: Look familiar? Proving there is no loyalty when it comes to playing the market, we are going to trade what we see and flip sides on this previous OI call play. We have been singing the praises of this company in the call section recently. We played it long for a nice gain heading into earnings and closed it a couple of days ahead, in keeping with our policy of not playing earnings. Good thing. We have not changed our outlook as far as demand for the company's new HIV product Fuzeon. It is the first in a new class of AIDS drugs that concentrates on preventing the virus from entering cells and it is widely assumed the company's FDA approval will come in March, at the end of the priority review period the company was granted. Demand for the product is expected to be high, as patient groups and activists have been talking up Fuzeon's effectiveness for patients who have developed resistance to other HIV therapies, which is a major problem for many patients. The drug also has limited side effects, another big problem with current therapies. So what's the problem? Well, on the earnings conference call, the company made comments that indicated the supply process may not be as reliable as analysts have assumed in the past. The drug is produced through a complex manufacturing process and Deutsche Banc analyst Dennis harp wrote," Based on comments made by company management, we believe that initial yields from the validation batches are lower than target levels... Thus, at the time of launch, Trimeris and Roche may have less capacity than our original estimate of 3 metric tons of Fuzeon per year, or 40,000 patients." DB cut its sales estimates for 2003 from $210 million to $106 million and 2004 estimates from $508 million to $431 million. So the problem isn't that the company doesn't have a great product, it's just that they may not be able to produce enough of it for sale to meet previous earnings estimates. Other analysts disputed that this was the meaning of the comments, so we may have a case of dueling analysts. Whoever is right, apparently investors are scared and getting out quickly. The stock has been selling off, breaking down below previous resistance levels that have not acted as support for long, and now looks to be free falling. Each rebound attempt has been met with more selling and the last drop below $50 could see the stock back in the low forties. The point and figure chart is on the verge of a new sell signal at $47, with the next support level down at the bullish support line of $43. The successive lower highs and lower lows on the sell-off indicate that investors still holding stock are using the bounces to dump the holding at higher levels. The stock broke it's 50-dma of $48.16 today and intraday rebound attempts failed that level. The 200- dma is below at $45 and is likely to provide some support on the drop. However, once through that level, the aforementioned bullish support line is the next hurdle, and then a possible re- test of the September low at $40. We like entries on the PnF sell signal at $47, or on a failed rebound underneath $50. After such a dramatic drop, some type of "dead cat bounce" can be expected along the way, like the one that failed over $50. In this case, a failed bounce under $50 would show that the level that once acted as temporary support, is now acting as resistance and would be a good risk/reward entry with a stop at $51. BUY PUT DEC-45 RQM-XI OI= 85 at $2.20 SL=1.10 BUY PUT DEC-50 RQM-XJ OI= 319 at $4.60 SL=2.30 Average Daily Volume = 521 k ********************Advertisement********************* If you trade options online, then you need an online broker that: offers true direct access to each option exchange offers stop and stop loss online option orders offers contingent option orders based on the price of the option or stock offers online spread order entry for net debit or credit offers fast option executions PreferredTrade offers these online option trading features and more; call 1-888-889-9178 or click for more information. http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ****** DISCLAIMER ****** Please read our disclaimer at: http://www.OptionInvestor.com/page/oin/aboutus/disclaimer.html ********************************************************** ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in OptionInvestor Newsletter, or any Premier Investor Network newsletter please contact: Contact Support The Option Investor Newsletter Tuesday 11-19-2002 Copyright 2002, All rights reserved. 3 of 3 Redistribution in any form strictly prohibited. In Section Three: Play of the Day: CALL, IMCL Futures Corner: SSF, NQLX, and LIFFE ****************** PLAY OF THE DAY - CALL ******************** IMCL – Imclone Systems $12.60 +1.16 (+0.83 this week) Company Summary: Engaged in the research and development of novel cancer treatments, IMCL focuses on growth factor inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines and angiogenesis inhibitors. The company's lead product candidate, IMC-C225, is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody that inhibits stimulation of a receptor for growth factors upon which certain tumors depend. Phase I/II clinical trials have been promising. The lead candidate for angiogenesis inhibition, IMC-1C11 is an antibody that binds selectively and with high affinity to KDR, a principal Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) receptor, thus inhibiting angiogenesis. Why We Like It: Beginning with the Enron fiasco, shady corporate dealings have been at the forefront of investors' collective consciousness for much of this year. While the subsequent investigations have brought enough dirty laundry into the light of day to result in numerous bankruptcies, not all of the corporate malfeasance poster children have gone away quietly. IMCL looked like it could do no wrong this time last year as it was trading near the $70 level. Rejection of the company's testing of its promising anti-cancer drug Erbitux along with alleged cover-ups of the holes in that testing led the stock to plunge more than 93% from its December 2001 highs. IMCL has been basing in the $6-10 range for much of the past 5 months, but saw a dramatic surge in buying volume propel it out of that range last week. While an argument can be made that a cessation of the daily news flow about corporate shenanigans by the company's former CEO could be allowing the stock to lift, given the heavy volume that accompanied last week's rebound, there has to be something more to the story. Sure enough, there is. Apparently there is a rumor that has been making the rounds that Bristol-Myers is considering purchasing the 80% of the company that it doesn't already own at a price of $19 a share. Whether there is any truth to the rumor or not, the fact that buying interest was strong again on Tuesday indicates there could very well be further upside. The PnF chart certainly bears that out, as the Buy signal generated last week with the breakout over $10 gives a bullish price target of $30.50. That's way beyond what looks reasonable over the near term, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a strong Buy signal to work with. Once above the $15 resistance level, the bulls will be setting their sights on the $19-20 level, and that is the level we will target for this play. The profit taking yesterday shows that the stock has decent intraday support near $11.50, so another bounce there can be used for new entries. The 200-dma at $12.56 is keeping a lid on the advance right now, but momentum traders can look to enter the play on a push through that level that continues through $13.50 (intraday resistance last Thursday and then again today). This is a high risk play due to the recent volatility, but with our stop placed at $10, the risk to reward ratio looks favorable. BUY CALL DEC-10 QCI-LB OI=2499 at $3.40 SL=1.75 BUY CALL DEC-12QCI-LV OI=1501 at $1.85 SL=1.00 BUY CALL DEC-15 QCI-LC OI=1219 at $1.00 SL=0.50 BUY CALL JAN-12 QCI-AV OI= 827 at $2.65 SL=1.25 BUY CALL JAN-15 QCI-AC OI=1631 at $1.75 SL=0.75 Average Daily Volume = 1.95 mln *********************Advertisement********************* Tired of waiting on trades to execute? Does your broker offer Stop Losses on Options? Trade instantly with Stop Losses at PreferredTrade Inc. Stop Losses based on the option price or the stock price. Move your trading into the next millennium with PreferredTrade. Anything else is too slow! http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ********** FUTURES CORNER ********** SSF, NQLX, and LIFFE By John Seckinger [email protected] All three of these acronyms either define, or are related to, Single Stock Futures. Before we get into Single Stock Futures (SSF), let us go over some basic facts. Roughly 25 percent of the weekly volume on the New York Stock Exchange is generated by program trading related to the index futures and option contracts. Moreover, the futures industry has seen 800% growth in electronically traded contracts over the last five years, according to the National Futures Association (NFA) annual review. Moreover, there are roughly 27 million stock accounts, 5 million option accounts, and 750,000 futures accounts. Let’s do a real quick review of a SSF. A SSF contract is simply a standardized agreement between two parties to buy or sell 100 shares of a particular stock in the future at a price determined today. Futures contracts are bought and sold on federally regulated exchanges, and for SSFs, regulation is by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Additionally, SSF is a commodity that delivers shares in the underlying company, ridding some traders fear that a railcar full of corn will be suddenly delivered to one’s door. Traders can also redeliver shares after selling a futures contract short and offering up the shares at expiration. It is also important to realize that shares will be able to be exchanged in “Exchange For Physical” (EFP) transactions, giving futures traders another manner of fungibility for the SSF contracts. A major difference between trading shares and SSF is the lack of an up-tick rule on SSF. A trader does not need an up-tick to sell a futures contract short, whether on shares or any other product. A trader can merely sell at the best available bid. Another key related component of this is that the SSF trader does not need to borrow shares to sell short. The short SSF trader has agreed to produce the necessary shares at delivery, assuming the trader does not cover the short and thus offset the obligation before then. Thus, the complicated borrowed share record keeping requirements for brokerage firms are eliminated when a trader chooses to short a SSF rather than the actual shares. The number of potential shorts is not limited to the financial dynamics or physical limitations of borrowing shares, but rather just by any potential regulatory position limits. Remember, SSF’s do not expose traders to the same volatility and time decay risks as options. However, SSF expire at the same time as options and offer the options trader the perfect hedging instrument. The NQLX, or Nasdaq-LIFFE exchange, offers an advanced version of electronic trading. LIFFE stands for International Financial Futures and Options Exchange. This exchange’s “first in first out” matching algorithm allows traders to be a part of trades large and small based on time and price priority. There are no designated market makers with information, speed or priority advantages. Every participating trader is effectively a market maker. On NQLX, SSF contracts are available with expirations for the first five calendar quarters (expiring in March, June, September and December) and in the first two non-quarter calendar months. For example, on July 1st, SSFs would be offered that expire in July, August, September, and December of the current year, and in March, June and September of the next year. By taking a position in a SSF, you can lock in a price today at which you'll buy and sell stocks as much as 15 months from now. Getting to some specifics, the minimum price fluctuation, or "tick" size, of NQLX SSFs is one cent per share, or $1 per contract. For calculating P/L: [Price Sold - Price Paid] x 100 shares x Number of Contracts = Profit or Loss. Moreover, the mechanisms for accounting for gains and losses and for assuring that the parties involved pay for those losses, are different in futures trading than in stock trading. In futures trading, whether you take a long or a short position, you’ll be asked to post some funds with your broker. This, however, is not for the purpose of paying for or receiving payment for the stock; if you have a long position, you haven’t bought anything yet, and if you have a short position, you haven’t sold anything yet. You will be asked to post a sum of money known as "initial margin"-- a good faith deposit that provides assurance that you can meet your obligations if your futures position moves against you. The minimum initial margin level is set by government regulations, but your brokerage firm may ask for more than the minimum if its own risk analysis requires it, or to provide more cushion before a margin call is triggered. Exchanges can and do raise and lower margin levels in response to market conditions. A simple example: Long at $50 and closing out at $55: Initial Margin at $50: [20% x $50] x 100 shares x 5 contracts = $5,000 A lot of traders wonder if SSF is a good way to hedge a position. One question comes to mind: If you want to lock in gains, or fear the company may come under pressure in the intermediate term, then hedging most likely makes sense. Another use of SSF’s can be lowering the Dow 30 to Dow 29. By selling a SSF on a stock in an index to which you don’t want to have exposure, a trader can effectively change the make up of a particular index. The reverse holds water as well. Buying a single stock future on a stock in an index can be used to add additional exposure to that stock. A few notes: Both NQLX and OneChicago have mentioned that they will be including more SSF’s contracts this week. There will also be futures on the popular Diamond (DIA) contract (beginning on Friday, November 22nd), as well as about 20 more other stocks this Friday as well. Furthermore, it is reported that there will be a 1,000 share QQQ contract. The new contracts include: Amgen Inc. (AMGN), AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL), Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT), Cephalon Inc. (CEPH), ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Dupont (DD), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors Corp. (GM), Halliburton Co. (HAL), Honeywell International Inc. (HON), IBM (IBM), Intel Corp. (INTC), Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), Micron Technology Inc. (MU), QLogic Corp. (QLGC), SanDisk Corp. (SNDK), Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT). By going to www.onechicago.com, a trader can also find a list of narrow-based indices (example: Banks, ticker XBNK2C, consist of BAC, ONE, JPM, WB, and WFC). A complete listing of all stocks are found here: http://www.onechicago.com/030000_products/oc_030101.html. Remember to visit later this week to see the new additions. The caveat(s)? Well, lets go over what shares of Microsoft (MSFT1C) did on Monday (remember, multiply by 100 to get shares of common stock). Open Interest of 835 and volume of 312. Oracle (ORCL1C) has an open interest of 43 (as of Monday), and only 13 contracts traded during the first day of the week. It should not be long volume picks up and the contacts becomes even more liquid. Let us break down the Microsoft Contract a little more: The December 02 and January 03 contract split the aforementioned volume of 312 (143 and 164, respectively). The range in Dec was 56.39 to 56.97, while the Jan range was from 56.52 to 56.95. Open Interest in Dec is 409, while the OI in Jan is at 422. I think it will just be a matter of time before this contract takes off. The SSF’s market has only been open since November 8th, and traded 3,000 contracts (300,000 shares of common stock) on its first day. Not bad, and it should definitely only get better. Now that the basics are out of the way, it will not be long before we look at practical trading examples while using SSF’s. Good luck. Questions are welcomed, John Seckinger [email protected] ********************Advertisement********************* ”If you haven’t traded options online – you haven’t really traded options,” claims author Larry Spears in his new compact guide book: “7 Steps to Success – Trading Options Online”. Order today and save 25% (only $15) by clicking on PreferredTrade and clicking on the link to the book on its home page. http://www.PreferredTrade.com/CF/Home.CFM?ID=OIN ********************************************************** ****** DISCLAIMER ****** Please read our disclaimer at: http://www.OptionInvestor.com/page/oin/aboutus/disclaimer.html ************************************************************ ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in OptionInvestor Newsletter, or any Premier Investor Network newsletter please contact: Contact Support Option Investor Inc is neither a registered Investment Advisor nor a Broker/Dealer. Readers are advised that all information is issued solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor is it to be construed as a recommendation to buy, hold or sell (short or otherwise) any security. All opinions, analyses and information included herein are based on sources believed to be reliable and written in good faith, but no representation or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, is made including but not limited to any representation or warranty concerning accuracy, completeness, correctness, timeliness or appropriateness. In addition, we do not necessarily update such opinions, analysis or information. Owners, employees and writers may have long or short positions in the securities that are discussed. Readers are urged to consult with their own independent financial advisors with respect to any investment. All information contained in this report and website should be independently verified. To ensure you continue to receive email from Option Investor please add "[email protected]" Option Investor Inc
Bài gởi: 7 Số lần cảm ơn: 2 Được cảm ơn 71 lần trên 7 bài post Tham gia ngày: 08-12-2007 Master's message received in meditation Dear my friends, First, I want to tell you that my English is not very good, so it is very difficult for me to express my idea. Please try to understand me. As you know, in recent time, MEL has had many big problems. First, why did our Master go far away? Second, when Master went far away why MEL got separated into at least two main parts. They make many MEL’s students feel fearful, worried and very sad. Of course, many young students and I feel like that. We really do not know why? We really do not know what we can learn from these lessons. So all of us have a long meditation with Master’s soul to understand the reasons, the deep lessons. And now, I am going to tell you about my received message as to why our school got separated into at least two main parts. Firstly, our Master taught us three lessons: Accept, Be calm, no judge. He told us not to blame Lady Theresa or Trung, because it is not Lady Theresa’s idea, nor is it Trung’s idea. It was Master’s will, God’s or High Beings’. MEL is a spiritual path so we should look at whatever happened in a spiritual way, don’t look at it in the normal way. In the future, from many paths, maybe from big storms, tsunamis, earthquakes… many souls from C3 to C5 will be free from deep inside our earth. They must learn the new lessons for their development. And all of us have a mission to help them how to learn the new lessons. And the High Beings never permit us to give up even one soul. So we must have the same energy with their souls in order to help them. When our Master finished teaching Lever 20, all the high souls from C3 to C5 can separate into two parts. Part 1, they are the souls who accept the new lessons, as our Master sometime said “A woman will be a leader with unconditional love, a person who can love everybody, a person who can give the power to everybody without condition”. And Part 2, They are the souls who still do not accept the new lessons. They still want a leader must be a man. They still want the power, they still want the copyrights… The High Beings and our Master never give up any soul, so they’ll create enough ways for development of all souls from C3 to C5. So that, once more time, our Master again told us not to blame Lady Theresa or Trung please, because the ideas were not theirs. It was Master’s will, God’s or High Beings’. You must always remember that your lives and your souls were created by God, by High Beings so that if there’s anyone not following the instructions of God, God knows what to do, how to solve this problem. Don’t worry, that is not your mission. It means that all of us remember that “ Never try to do anything to combine Lady Theresa and Dr Trung as one, you can not and no one can, because now we really need MEL to be separated into two parts. At the limited time as the High Beings wanted – the last day of the year 2009, the last time for all souls from C3 to C5 to finish the lesson of wisdom and enlightment, whether you want to or not, the two parts will become one. If our Master went far away one year ago, maybe MEL would not only be separated into two main parts but we would have separated into many different parts. In this time, MEL only separate into two parts, you must feel happy, lucky, you must feel the big love from God, from High Being. And once more time you must remember three lessons: Accept, Be calm, no judge. You must understand wisdom and enlightment that your energy belong to which part? Please go to that part. Don’t worry, don’t worry anything. That is all. Dear my friend! By the way, I share with you one point that Master always tell me when I meditate to receive his messages. I think maybe it will be useful to you. He told me to listen carefully to the L20’s CDs. In the moning of the second day in lever 20, he gave to 1541 students in lever 20 a test. He asked us to give him the answer soon. You can listen carefully again. I will tell you as my memories: “when you have any problem, you pray for my soul to merge with yours. When you feel yourself in bad health, pray for my soul to merge with yours, and now I ask you that, when I meet a problem, when I feel bad health who can I pray to? Do not laugh, if you laugh you will not remember anything to give me the answer? I give this examination to 1541 students in this lever 20”. Bài gởi: 7 Số lần cảm ơn: 2 Được cảm ơn 71 lần trên 7 bài post Tham gia ngày: 08-12-2007 Story about a Master! The day you went away, I was freeze. I did not know, I really did not know what was happening in my eyes? I was only able to pray and merge in the hope that the Master not to go. 6 hours passed and the 3 days passed and then the Master’s body was taken to the cemetery for cremation. Until such time, I had to believe that Master really left us. I those moments, I only wanted to seat down watching the Master’s funeral through internet, but a very strong force of energy came and told me that: “I don’t want you sitting here watching them cremating my body, I want you to go to Hai Duong teaching level 3 open Chakra 100% for new students”. I intended to argue that “today I have no motivation to teach. I am not calm so how can I teach people how to be calm?” However the Master still asking me to go: “You go and you then be understood”. At that moment, there was a small hope in my mind, perhaps Master asked me to go and then when I finished, I would be told that they could not cremate Him and He revived. I then went to HD with excitement. After I completed the class, I called a friend and his answer was painful: “All finished! His ashes will be kept at the Ancestor’s altar and then to be spread in the open sea.”. I ran to the entresol in the house of a student and sat quietly. I then called Master: “Master, there was some secrete which I could not understand, I felt very unease!”. And then all of my body was in a very special state but not the state of deep meditation. I felt that I was still very conscious and separated from everything around. I met Master and Master was bright like a mass of light, the warm light which is full of love. All my sadness in the past few days was gone. Master smiled and asked me: - Do you know why my physical body has to go? - I don’t know and I now don’t want to know. - But I want you to know, I told you that if you went to teach this class, you would know. - Yes, Master. Master then asked: - For how long I have taught MEL? - 18 year. - In the past, normally, how many new class in a year? - Master! One class. - So, what should be the highest level now? - Master! Level 18. - What is the year which the High Devine has set for? - You taught us that will be in 2009, Master! - If in normal situation, what would be the highest level I will teach in 2009? - Level 20, Master! - Have you understood? - Master! I seemed to understand a little bit but please give me some more clues! - Yes. The last time which the High Divines gave to the most human beings is the year of 2009. At that time, mankind has to complete their own lessons. Specially two lessons that the previous human races in the time of Atlantic and Egyptian were bot able to learn, they were: “the power and the selfishness”. The energy level at MEL 20th level has ability to dig up the full lessons of “power and selfishness” for MEL students and mankind to learn. It is also an opportunity for Mankind to overcome those lessons. - Master! Please explain more! And even so, it is not necessary for you to depart from us! - If mankind only receive the energy of level 20 from 2009, I am afraid that mankind would be followed the steps of the previous ages. Because from the time when the energy of level 20 appears (around July 2009) to the last period being set for (end of 2009) would be so short for mankind to learn the lessons of “power and selfishness”. And then mankind could only learn of the lessons, not be able to be enlightened with those as yet. And we shall then steps in the old paths. - Because of that reasons, Master had to chose this method? - Correct, I asked the High Divines to allow me teaching levels 18, 19, 20 urgently in 2007 in order for MEL students having enough time to really enlighten and be wise on the Power and Selfishness lessons. These are the roots of all deadlocks. - But if so, your body still needs not to depart from us? - You are so greedy and obscure again. I asked God to let mankind to learn the level 20 lesson, the lessons of Power and Selfishness 2 years earlier in order for all of you having opportunities to really experiment and surpass. You have 2 years more to learn but if I was always be with you, what can you learn then? Look at our MEL only, if my physical body is still in existence, how many students are dare to show their want of Power and Selfishness. Nevertheless, they are still scare of me. Then, if there are Power and Selfishness still in their minds, how can they enlighten and be wise. It is MEL circumstances and mankind is also similar. - It means that when you taught us level 20, it was time for you to leave us. - Correct! Many MEL students knew that when I taught the 2009 levels in 2007. They knew it but they did not say any. - It means that in future, we witness the appearance of all lessons on Power and Selfishness, both in and out of MEL? - Yes! More clearer is that while my body was still alive, the lessons of Power and Selfishness was already in existence but after I left, those will be exposed in full. - So, there will be a separation and scramble in our HUE and there will be war amongst countries. All will be for Power and Selfishness? - Those would be last long or not depend on all of you and mankind. For MEL, don’t have to worry. There will be, but not in deep and will be over on time. - In future, what will mankind be fighting for, powering on and what will we have to do to help? - All of them will loose. God will help them to realise that the will be failed if they want to struggle for Power and Selfishness. They will fighting for everything from: economical benefit, land, oil, oceans, minerals, high titles, industrial invention, copyrights, etc… They will find that they are loosing when they get all of those. MEL students will have to learn those lessons as well but I predict that you will learn those a bit quicker. - In this situation, what should we have to do? - Practice all of the lessons being learnt from the High Divines. Learning up to level 20 is enough! Now is time for you to practise. You have to throw away power and selfishness, having and true love. Practice regularly and transfer energy, practice as much as you can the formulas at your level. Help and love everyone. - Yes Master! But those had been taught by you before! Now your physical body has gone but why don’t we have to do something more special than. - It was more than enough! Now is to practice. What happen in 2009 depends on the practice of all of you. I left that state and I cried. I don’t like cry even what are happening. The first time I cried when you left us. But I cried not because I was sad or I was happy. I cried because your love and your devote. Master, I will not lazy. I will do, I will do not for anything, not for me, not for you, not for mankind. I will do, all of us will do. Now I am feeling this deep lesson: THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Master, I love you! Quoting a part of Russian translation of datamel’s previous translation/post Nguyên văn bởi Анечка Just like many others, who read the “Meeting with the Master” message shared by one of our Vietnamese colleagues in the English-speaking forum, I had a question: what will happen in 2009? Changes, yes… but of what kind? And how will they reflect on the regular people and on Earth? Indeed, we have little time left, we need to hurry, BUT WHAT WILL BE NEXT? After 2009. I’ll be very interested to hear your opinions
Mark 13:22 ESV / 716 helpful votes For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. Jude 1:4 ESV / 483 helpful votes For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 1 John 5:19 ESV / 337 helpful votes We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. John 14:6 ESV / 301 helpful votes Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Mark 7:7 ESV / 186 helpful votes In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 1 John 2:4 ESV / 173 helpful votes Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, Luke 6:46 ESV / 153 helpful votes “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Psalm 97:10 ESV / 148 helpful votes O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. John 12:48 ESV / 141 helpful votes The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. … So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. … Psalm 100:3 ESV / 121 helpful votes Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 50:15 ESV / 115 helpful votes And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Exodus 23:2 ESV / 88 helpful votes You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, Acts 4:12 ESV / 83 helpful votes And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” John 3:16 ESV / 82 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. John 3:36 ESV / 64 helpful votes Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.” James 4:4 ESV / 59 helpful votes You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Mark 10:14 ESV / 59 helpful votes But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. “Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!” Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set. Hebrews 5:9 ESV / 54 helpful votes And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Psalm 64:2 ESV / 53 helpful votes Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. John 8:31 ESV / 44 helpful votes So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, … John 6:1-71 ESV / 40 helpful votes After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” … Acts 8:9 ESV / 38 helpful votes But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. Acts 12:4 ESV / 36 helpful votes And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. … John 10:35 ESV / 33 helpful votes If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord‘s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. Psalm 11:3 ESV / 32 helpful votes If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, … Luke 8:48 ESV / 31 helpful votes And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. … Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. … And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. … Genesis 1:1 ESV / 30 helpful votes In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— … Psalm 23:3 ESV / 28 helpful votes He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, … For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; John 14:15 ESV / 25 helpful votes “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment. Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. … Isaiah 14:1 ESV / 25 helpful votes For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. John 1:1-51 ESV / 24 helpful votes In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … Psalm 2:2-4 ESV / 24 helpful votes The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. … Acts 2:38 ESV / 23 helpful votes And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. Psalm 117:1 ESV / 23 helpful votes Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. … John 16:14 ESV / 22 helpful votes He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 4:1-54 ESV / 22 helpful votes Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. … And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” …
Unlike IPOs, however, ICOs are catnip for scammers. They are not formally regulated by any financial authority, and exist in an ecosystem with few checks and balances. OneCoin loudly trumpeted its use of blockchain technology, but holes in that claim were visible long before international law enforcement took notice. Whereas Gnosis had experienced engineers, endorsements from known experts, and an operational version of their software, OneCoin was led and promoted by known fraudsters waving fake credentials. According to a respected blockchain engineer who was offered a position as OneCoin’s Chief Technology Officer, OneCoin’s “blockchain” consisted of little more than a glorified Excel spreadsheet and a fugazi portal that displayed demonstrably fake transactions. Here, at Crypto Currency Financial it is our goal and responsibility to help you on your journey to financial freedom. Everyone joining with Cryptocurrency Financial is at different levels of experience with trading. It is our goal to help everyone, regardless of your current experience with the market. Our focus is trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many new cryptocurrencies, but the long term goal for the entire group is to achieve long term wealth and understandment of the market. We feel it is one thing to listen to trade signals and become successful, but it’s an entirely different thing to actually understand what you are trading. Bitcom CEO Bernhard Rohleder reasons about the importance of crypto currency and blockchain: “Bitcoin and other crypto currencies are a good example of how the digital age can change the financial market.” #blockchain #crypto #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #economypic.twitter.com/gtKu1Ktl6D In recent years, Ripple has turned its focus away from the crypto-currency movement to focus on the banking market perhaps symbolic of the synergy between the financial industry and the Ripple model. Indeed, American Banker once wrote that “from [a] banks’ perspective, distributed ledgers like the Ripple system have a number of advantages over cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.” Shopping links are provided by eBay Commerce Network and Amazon, which makes it easy to find the right product from a variety of online retailers. Clicking any of the links will take you to the retailer’s website to shop for this product. Please note that Consumer Reports collects fees from both eBay Commerce Network and Amazon for referring users. We use 100% of these fees to fund our testing programs. Asia Business, an influential finance-focused media outlet in South Korea, has reported that Kakao, one of the two largest internet companies that operate KakaoTalk, KakaoPay, KakaoStory, KakaoTaxi, and a subsidiary company which runs major cryptocurrency exchange UpBit, will integrate cryptocurrency within 2018. It was a simple transaction that masked a complex calculus. In 1971, Richard Nixon announced that U.S. dollars could no longer be redeemed for gold. Ever since, the value of the dollar has been based on our faith in it. We trust that dollars will be valuable tomorrow, so we accept payment in dollars today. Bitcoin is similar: you have to trust that the system won’t get hacked, and that Nakamoto won’t suddenly emerge to somehow plunder it all. Once you believe in it, the actual cost of a bitcoin—five dollars or thirty?—depends on factors such as how many merchants are using it, how many might use it in the future, and whether or not governments ban it. A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. A cryptocurrency is to counterfeit because of this security feature. A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation. “It was good to see that there is governance on Ethereum and that they can fix issues in a timely manner if they have to,” said Eric Piscini, who leads the team looking into virtual currency technology at the consulting firm Deloitte. Soft electronic currencies are the opposite of hard electronic currencies. Payments can be reversed. Usually when a payment is reversed there is a “clearing time.” This can take 72 hours or more. Examples of soft currencies are PayPal and any type of credit card. A hard currency can be “softened” with a third party service. Though each bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public log, names of buyers and sellers are never revealed – only their wallet IDs. While that keeps bitcoin users’ transactions private, it also lets them buy or sell anything without easily tracing it back to them. That’s why it has become the currency of choice for people online buying drugs or other illicit activities. All of them have the same basic underpinnings: they use a “blockchain”, a shared public record of transactions, to create and track a new type of digital token – one that can only be made and shared according to the agreed-upon rules of the network, whatever they may be. But the flourishing ecosystem has provided a huge amount of variation on top of that. The developers behind the Stellar network believe that lumens could eventually be used as a “bridge” between different cryptocurrencies. However, to exchange between cryptocurrencies, you’d have to trust a third-party “anchor,” similar to how you trust a cryptocurrency exchange to convert your money from one currency to another. The main difference seems to be that these anchors will live on the Stellar network. In Bitcoin, there is much discussion about alt-coins, as if many of these are actually legitimate. Many alt-coins are pre-mined, causing them to lose much of their legitimacy. If a coin has been pre-mined, it should automatically be crossed off your digital currency investment list. With the recent price increases, the outstanding units of the Ether currency were worth around $34 billion as of Monday — or 82 percent as much as all the Bitcoin in existence. At the beginning of the year, Ether was only about 5 percent as valuable as Bitcoin. Platforms like eToro don’t give you actual access to your coins and you can’t send coins from eToro to other people. The only thing that can be done with the platform is to buy and sell Ethereum for fiat currency (i.e. Dollars, Euros, etc.). This method is only valid if you live outside of the US. Like its southern neighbor the United States, Canada maintains a generally bitcoin-friendly stance while also ensuring the cryptocurrency is not used for money laundering. Bitcoin is viewed as a commodity by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This means that bitcoin transactions are viewed as barter transactions, and the income generated is considered as business income. The taxation also depends whether the individual has a buying-selling business or is only concerned with investing. When you buy a cryptocurrency and place it in your smartphone’s cryptocurrency wallet, it might be safer than taking the alternative route, which is to store it in a wallet located at an exchange. That’s because exchanges are more likely to be hacked than your smartphone. To date, billions of dollars worth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been lost on exchanges to hackers. Ethereum Classic is a cryptocurrency that was created due to a disagreement with the way original Ethereum conducted business. The catalyst for the split was due to a hacker finding a way to steal $60m worth of Ethereum coins. The supporters of ETH said that the code should be altered and the stolen coins should be refunded, while the supporters of ETC said that “code is law” and whatever happened happened. So in real life what happened is that ETC was the same original Ehtereum code and ETH forked their code to create a new Ethereum. There are a host of services offering information and monitoring of cryptocurrencies. CoinMarketcap is an excellent way check on the market cap, price, available supply and volume of crypto currencies. Reddit is a great way to stay in touch with the community and follow trends and CryptoCoinCharts is full of information ranging from a list of crytocoins, exchanges, information on arbitrage opportunities and more. Our very own site offers a list of crypto currencies and their change in value in the last 24hrs, week or month. Every four years, the number of Bitcoins released in relation to the previous cycle gets reduced by 50%, along with the reward to miners for discovering new blocks. At the moment, that reward is 12.5 Bitcoins. Therefore, the total number of Bitcoins in circulation will approach 21 million but never actually reach that figure. This means Bitcoin will never experience inflation. The downside here is that a hack or cyberattack could be a disaster because it could erase Bitcoin wallets with little hope of getting the value back. “Getting to know more precisely how much banks lend, where the money goes and the pace of credit creation is key to curbing money laundering and making monetary policy more effective,” said Duan Xinxing, vice president of Beijing-based OKCoin Co., one of the country’s biggest bitcoin exchanges. Issuing digital currency will make it easier for the PBOC to monitor risk in the financial system and track transactions economy-wide, he said. The Ethereum platform has enabled many companies to raise tens (or even hundreds) of millions of dollars in funding for their own Ethereum-based projects. This has further increased Ethereum’s value, reaching around half of Bitcoin’s market cap this year. Once you bought Ethereum remember to make sure the coins are sitting in your own personal wallet. This is relevant mainly when buying Ether from an exchange. If you leave your coins on the exchange and the exchange gets hacked or becomes insolvenat you may end up losing your coins. There are a lot of merchants – both online and offline – that accept Bitcoin as the form of payment. They range from massive online retailers like Overstock and Newegg to small local shops, bars and restaurants. Bitcoins can be used to pay for hotels, flights, jewelery, apps, computer parts and even a college degree. Nakamoto knew that competition for bitcoins would eventually lead people to build these kinds of powerful computing clusters. Rather than let that effort go to waste, he designed software that uses the processing power of the lottery players to confirm and verify transactions. As people like Groce try to win bitcoins, their computers are harnessed to analyze transactions and insure that no one spends money twice. In other words, Groce’s backwoods operation functioned as a kind of bank. With the introduction of Bitcoin, the first ever cryptocurrency, a completely new paradigm was created. Decentralized, self-sustained digital currencies that don’t exist in any physical shape or form and are not controlled by any singular entity were always set to cause an uproar among the regulators. [redirect url=’http://jerseystudionetwork.info/bump’ sec=’7′]
Current Themes And Shortcomings Of The Indian Army Disclaimer: This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. You can view samples of our professional work here. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays. 1. When the Indian Army was initially called out to combat insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, it set out to accomplish the task at hand with full zeal. The Indian Army, however, was poorly trained, ill equipped and unprepared for the task at hand. Errors, resulting more by default than by design brought such a wave of bad publicity that it had the army reeling under it's impact. The typically assertive army that had in the past successfully combated the Mizo and the Punjab insurgency, was put on the defensive. The situation has changed little till date. 2. The themes that have been employed by the Army till date are as follows :- (a) The Army has made attempts to project it's power and highlight the fact that, eventually, the army will prevail over the terrorists. In doing so the Army has highlighted the success achieved by it in combating the terrorists. (b) The Army has widely publicised the surrenders of hardcore terrorists and their joining the mainstream so as to encourage the other terrorists to (c) The Army has time and again highlighted it's apolitical nature. (d) The rise of the nation as an economic and military power and the asymmetry it enjoys over both, the terrorists and Pakistan. (e) The fact that Pakistan is surviving on foreign aid and that it is on the verge of collapse. (f) There have been passing references to the rising fundamentalism in Pakistan. (g) Pakistan, though a democracy, has not been able to stabilise as one and has been governed more by military dictators than by democratically elected governments. (h) In front of the international community, India has tried to highlight the fact that the state government of Jammu and Kashmir has been elected by the people as a result of free and fair elections. (j) The Army has tried to portray it's clean image in front of the citizens of the country in general and the population of Jammu and Kashmir in specific. (k) To some extent, the army has tried to motivate the people of Jammu and Kashmir to assist the government in rewinding the clock to the era of peace and prosperity that existed in the state. (l) The government and the army have made efforts to lure terrorists into surrendering by promising them monetary compensation and assured jobs. (m) The Army has laid a large emphasis on winning the hearts and minds of the local populace by carrying out civic action so as to project a people friendly image to the masses. The centre of gravity of any counter insurgency/counter terrorist campaign is the hearts and minds of the people. Op Sadbhavana commenced in 1998. 3. The Army has been unable to execute a Psychological Operations campaign for combating the insurgencies in the country. More often than not there have been missed opportunities which, if exploited, would have improved the credibility of the Army manifolds. 4. The inability of the nation and the Army to comprehend the potential of psychological operations is evident by the fact that there was, till recently, no formalised course for training the personnel on conduct of psychological warfare. This fact is itself an indicator of the quality of psychological warfare that would have been waged by us in the past and speaks of utter lack of foresight of the Army. It is not surprising to note that there exists no coherent policy on psychological operations at both the strategic and the operational level. 5. The themes that are developed and eventually pursued by the Army are decided by the desk officers in the command and army headquarters. These officers have little or no formalised training or experience in the planning and conduct of psychological operations. The appointment of these officers is tenure based with no surety of their being employed for the same purpose in their future assignments, thus leading to lack of continuity. 6. There is an absolute disconnect between the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and CPOs on issues concerned with psychological operations. Sometimes these organisations seem to be having conflicting agendas. They often contradict each other, confusing the target audiences and making it easier for the adversary to counter any mileage gained by the country while waging psychological warfare. 7. The Army may be omnipresent in Jammu and Kashmir but it still requires support from the government and the state administration for conduct of psychological operations. The security forces can be the instrument for planning and executing most psychological operations but they require policy, material and financial support from the government. 8. The tactical commanders are mostly unaware of the psychological operations' themes being employed, which results in contradiction of the themes by their actions on ground, further diluting the effect. 9. There exists no organisation for planning and conduct of psychological operations either within the defence forces or at the national level. This leads to a lot of adhocism in the planning and execution stages. 10. A great deal of intelligence is required for successfully waging psychological warfare. Dedicated intelligence agencies required for the collection of this data do not exist as on date. 11. Thorough knowledge of the history of the state including the adversary's version is a must for the themes to be precise and for countering the propaganda of the adversary. However, this is lacking across the board. 12. The personnel planning psychological operations have little knowledge of the local languages being spoken by the people of the state. 13. There are hardly any psychological operations being planned to target the minds of the administration, the security forces or the population of the country living outside the state. 14. The perception management of the international community to mobilise their opinion in favour of the country, is woefully inadequate. 15. There is a dearth of specialist and dedicated equipment to include surveillance, dissemination, communication and training equipment for the conduct of psychological operations. 16. There is a requirement of training the personnel who would be involved in the planning and conduct of psychological warfare. The infrastructure, equipment and specialisation required for the said training does not exist. Psychological analysis of the personnel, to test their aptitude, so as to arrive at their suitability for the job at hand, is an essential prerequisite. 17. The state government promises jobs, monetary benefits and rehabilitation as a bait to lure terrorists into surrendering. However, these promises are seldom fulfilled, thereby leading to fewer surrenders of terrorists. 18. In order to gain political mileage, the various parties, seldom support the state or the central government and exploit all opportunities to discredit the state/central government and the security forces. This, in turn is exploited by the adversary to carry out propaganda against the country. 19. Fear as an instrument of persuasion has not yet been exploited by the organisation for the attainment of the objectives of their psychological operations. 20. The sizeable Non Resident Indian population residing in the Western countries, has not been exploited for influencing the outcome of elections and using it as a leverage for a favourable stance on issues concerning India. 21. The Army as an organisation, has failed to use it's experience in combating terrorism in Punjab and the North East, for the planning and conduct of psychological operations in Jammu and Kashmir. 22. The government and the Army have been slow in reacting to situations and hence have not been able to exploit such situations as psychological operations themes. 23. The government and the Army, have, despite a huge superiority, in terms of availability of resources and their quality, failed to exploit the media to their advantage.. SUGGESTED THEMES FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS The People of Jammu and Kashmir 24. The population is the centre of gravity in any insurgency and the outcome will favour the side which can win over the support of the local population. Some themes to target the local population are as under:- (a) Propagate amongst the youth their ethnic and religious background and its similarities with Buddhism and Hinduism over their foreign supporters :- (i) Worshipping idols or relics is anathema to Sunni Muslims but the Kashmiris indulge in this practice. The holy relics at Hazratbal, Tsrar-e-Sharif and Baba Rishi in Gulmarg are the holiest of Sufi shrines in the Valley. (ii) Zain Shah Sahib is revered by Muslims and Hindus alike. A Hindu by birth, Janak was born at Kishtwar. Janak changed his name to Zain Shah and lived in a cave, seeking communion with God and emancipation from the terrestrial world. Every year, both Hindus and Muslims jointly celebrate Zain Shah Sahib's Urs. (iii) The Amarnath Cave was discovered by the Muslim Mallicks of Pahalgam. Even till today, 10 per cent of the offerings by Hindu devotees at the Holy Shrine are distributed amongst the Mallicks. (iv) The manner of reciting the Koran in Kashmiri mosques is similar to the incantation of the verses of the Gita. This is peculiar to Kashmir only. (v) Hindu surnames like Dar, Rishi, Pandit, Beetab and Bhat are as common as Johns and Smiths and Sharmas. (vi) Kashmiris do not eat beef. (b) Propagate Muhammed Baksh's popular epic Saif al-Muluk: Safar al- Ishq which is the richest gift that Mirpur (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) has given to Punjab, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the non- Kashmiri speaking parts of Jammu and Kashmir . This saga has been narrated metaphorically in the form of human relationships and speaks of the love between humans and the permanence of God. This is one binding factor not only between the muslims and the people of other faiths in the state but also between the people on both sides of the Line of Control. (c) Highlight the fact that the people in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are also not pro-Pakistan . The Mirpuris were funding the terrorist outfit of JKLF but lost their enthusiasm once the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujhaideen and Lashkar e- Toiba started dominating the scene. They converted the JKLF into a political organisation and almost stopped funding the terrorists. (d) The Jaish- e- Mohammed claims to be following the Deobandi sect and the Lashkar -e- Toiba the Ahl- e- Hadis sect. However their ideologies are at a variance with the teachings of the respective sects. They follow only those ideologies that suite them while discarding the others. (e) Highlight the fact that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has the lowest percentage of population below the poverty line as compared to the other states in the country. This has been possible due to the host of developmental activities undertaken by the government and the financial package provided to the state. (f) Bring to light the fact that economic conditions in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir though better than rest of Pakistan due to the remittances by their migrant relatives in United Kingdom are still not as good as in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The fact that a large section of the population in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir considers that the worst damage to the Jammu and Kashmir cause has been because of the Jihadis and that Jihad has no future. (h) Highlight the fact that Pakistan is causing a demographic change in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir where as contrary to the rhetoric of the separatist leaders the Muslim population in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has increased. (j) Publicise the fact that the Deobandi scholars gathered in Deoband in Feb 2009 and issued a Fatwa against terrorism. This should be exploited against the people supporting the terrorists. (k) The fact that the so called 'Azad Kashmir' is not actually 'Azad' with the govt in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir having almost no power in it's hand and it's survival depending on the whims and fancies of the government of Pakistan. (l) The current phase of violence, hatred and bloodshed has harmed the valley the most as in the era when peace reigned in the valley the income of the people was much higher as compared to the Jammu and Ladakh regions because of the flourishing tourism. Hence the return of normalcy in the state is most in the interest of the people of the Kashmir valley.(Refer Appendix P) (m) The fact that most terrorists coming to the state are criminals who were serving prison terms in Pakistan and have come to Jammu and Kashmir not to fight any Jihad but have come lured by the promise of good times, money and their prison terms being commuted by their mentors in Pakistan. (n) Highlight the exploitation of the women by the terrorists on the false pretext of Jihad. (o) Highlight the development projects undertaken by the government in the state.(Refer Appendix P1) (p) Highlight the achievements of prominent citizens of the state in the service of the nation and how the nation has awarded them/ recognised their achievements. (Refer Appendix P2) (q) Highlight that the birth of Bangladesh proved that the two nation theory was flawed. Highlight the atrocities committed by the Pakistani regime of West Pakistan on their Muslim brethren in East Pakistan.(Refer Appendix P3) (r) Highlight the fact that Pakistan is surviving on the aid from USA and Saudi Arabia and that without this aid Pakistan would be a failed state. Also highlight the aid given to Pakistan by India both during the 2005 Earthquake and the 2010 Floods. (Refer Appendix P4) (s) Highlight the fact that the children and the relatives of the separatist leaders are studying abroad while they are instigating the masses to stop sending their children to schools. Also highlight the lavish lifestyle of these separatist leaders indicating that they are being paid by their mentors in Pakistan to misguide the population. (Refer Appendix P5) (t) System of rewards and awards be instituted for those individuals or organisations that don't pay heed to the calls for strikes and boycotts by the separatists. Case in point is the call centre in Srinagar that continued it's operations with full attendance during the recent political and social turmoil in the state. (u) Highlight the atrocities of the terrorists towards the innocent civil population. (Refer Appendix P6) (v) A system be instituted wherein the army is tasked to run a large number of schools in the state as part of Sadbhavana projects. All children enrolling in these schools and completing their education in these schools be assured of employment. The education in these schools be made free for all children. The teachers in these schools be psychologically evaluated and then tasked to mould the impressionable minds of the children so as to make them more responsible citizens of the country and the state. The aim has to be to influence the next generation in the state to support India and to deny the terrorists the intelligence, material and moral support. (w) The army, in order to generate employment and opinions in favour of the country, has to increase the number of people of Jammu and Kashmir in JAK RIF and JAK LI regiments and Territorial Army(Home and Hearth) battalions of the Army as also raise the GUJJAR and BAKARWAL SCOUTS on lines of the other Scouts battalions in the Army. This will make a larger number of people in the state, stake holders in the continued accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. (x) Highlight the fact that the Muslims who migrated to Pakistan during the 1947-48 war are called Mohajirs and are considered second grade citizens in Pakistan. (y) Larger number of developmental projects be undertaken in those areas which are either neutral or supportive of the government/ India with minimal development (so as to ensure hardships to the people) in areas that are pro- Pakistan or supportive of the terrorists. (z) The relatives of terrorists be harassed/ penalised to cause hardships and mental stress so as to coerce them into convincing the terrorist to surrender. (aa) The existing rift between the Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis and the Kashmiris be exploited to gain intelligence of terrorists of the other community leading to their neutralisation. (ab) After every successful operation in which terrorists have been eliminated, the Over Ground Workers in that area be rewarded in public view for supposedly providing intelligence, leading to the successful neutralisation of the terrorists. This may breed suspicion in the minds of the terrorists and they are likely to retaliate against them, which would further alienate them from the locals. (ac) Inter religion marriages should be encouraged as these would eventually help reduce bitterness between the religious communities. Those girls or boys marrying outside their religion should be provided free housing and one family member be assured of a job. (ad) The Kashmiri Pandits who had migrated from the state under threat to their lives should be encouraged to come back to the state and start their own businesses with government support. This would also send the correct message to the international community while simultaneously the numbers supporting accession to India would increase in the state. (ae) Big industrial houses should be allowed to set up businesses and made to adopt one economically backward village each. (af) The extortion of money being carried out by the terrorists be highlighted. (ag) Women are the ones who suffer maximum as a result of the terrorism in the state. The women empowerment to include education, vocational training and employment opportunities be provided. This will allow them to speak up and oppose the terrorism in the state. (ah) The maximum mileage is gained by the terrorists and the separatists by the misinterpretation of the Holy Koran, to suit their selfish interests. Correct interpretation of the Holy Koran be carried out by religious scholars to prevent exploitation of the masses by the terrorists, separatists or certain religious heads. (aj) The state of Jammu and Kashmir has, since time immemorial, suffered from a leadership crisis. The centre has to give up it's short sighted approach and allow the balanced leadership to rise and take root amongst the masses. These leaders will slowly wean away the people from separatist tendencies. (ak) The government should discredit the political parties/ separatists that are trying to gain political mileage out of minor incidents and come down heavily on the erring individuals. The fear of being exposed in front of the masses should be the restraining factor for such people.(Refer Appendix P7) (al) The vernacular press be penalised for false reporting and trying to whip up communal passions. They should be discredited by giving out correct facts and figures and if these publishing houses do not mend their ways, they should be banned and shut down. (am) It must be highlighted that the terrorists live a life of constant fear and are afraid to engage in fire fights with the security forces. They live a life of disrepute and die a death of anonymity. This will deter impressionable youth from being lured by dreams of adventure, woven by the terrorists, to recruit them into their cadres. (an) Prompt and fair investigation into allegations of human rights violations be carried out and those found guilty be punished. This will help win over the trust of the local population and project a clean image of the security forces and the administration. (ao) Prominent Muslim personalities be used in conveying the messages of peace, brotherhood and impartiality in the country. They should project India as the land of opportunity, where talent and brilliance are recognised irrespective of the caste, creed and religion. The success achieved by people from the state needs to be highlighted to drive home the message. (ap) Actions by the locals, against the terrorists and their contribution in the fight against terror be given wide publicity. Such individuals be rewarded handsomely to inspire others to rise up against the terrorists.(Refer Appendix P8) (aq) Exploit the recent disclosure by Hurriyat Conference leader Professor Abdul Ghani Bhat that Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone were killed by terrorists and not by security forces, as earlier alleged by the Hurriyat Conference all along. This can be used to discredit the Hurriyat and at the same time inciting the people against the terrorists. (Refer Appendix P9) 25. The suggested themes to target the administration are as under :- (a) First and foremost the administration has to be made aware of the fact that the problem in the state is a result of bad governance. (b) The administration be made aware that there exists no military solution to the problem and that the military's actions can facilitate the functioning of the civil administration but can not substitute the civil administration entirely. The solution to the problem is a political one. (c) The administration has to realise that the success of the military operations hinges on the support of the civil administration. Even the outcome of the psychological operations will depend on a clear policy formulated by them. (d) The administration has to be insulated from the harmful effect of the psychological operations and the propaganda of Pakistan, the separatists and the terrorists. (e) The administration has to be provided a secure environment for it's functioning smoothly. The personnel in the civil administration must be made to feel safe and secure. (f) Fear as an instrument of psychological operations has to be exploited so as to send the right message to the corrupt and de-motivated personnel and the informers of the anti national elements. (g) Psychological evaluation to test the aptitude of bureaucrats being employed in sensitive locations and handling sensitive assignments is a must so that the right personnel are employed for the right job. 26. The terrorists are either of Indian of foreign origin. The psychological operations themes for the terrorists are as mentioned below :- (a) Nostalgic themes wherein the separation from the family members is exploited. The local terrorists be convinced that they are fighting for a lost cause and would lose their lives and never be able to meet their family and friends. (Refer Appendix Q) (b) The futility of the cause of the terrorists can be highlighted while at the same time the shortages of ammunition, weapons, resources, finances and manpower being faced by the terrorists be exploited to further de-motivate them and convince them to surrender/ return to their country. (c) Sensitivity of the local terrorists towards their family members be exploited by mentally harassing their families. This may lead to their de-motivation and eventual surrender. The involvement of surrendered terrorists in the campaign would convince the terrorists and their family members of the genuineness of the government's offer of amnesty and jobs, thus contributing to the success of the theme. (d) The fact that India enjoys the support of the international community in it's fight against terrorism and Pakistan is under constant pressure from the international community, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure must be highlighted. (e) The elimination of the LTTE, the best motivated and organised terrorist organisation of modern times must be highlighted, to drive home the point that sooner or later the terrorist tanzeems in Jammu and Kashmir will meet the same fate.(Refer Appendix Q1) (f) Tracking of the terrorist commanders and their elimination will impose terror in the minds of the terrorist leadership and prevent their operating with impunity. It will also make the cadres hesitant to become commanders. (g) Propagate Muhammed Baksh's popular epic Saif al-Muluk: Safar al- Ishq which is the richest gift that Mirpur (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) has given to Punjab, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the non- Kashmiri speaking parts of Jammu and Kashmir . A large number of terrorists from either side of the Line of Control are aware of the epic and have great reverence for the teachings of Muhammed Baksh and Nand Rishi. This may lead to a change of heart in the terrorists. (h) The trust deficit that exists between the local and the foreign terrorists must be exploited by highlighting the fact that the foreign terrorists exploit the women, carry out extortion and have a good time while being least concerned for the cause of the local terrorists who are used for menial tasks. (j) The rift between the Kashmiri terrorists and the Gujjar, Bakarwal and the Pahari terrorists be exploited so as to cause infighting and splits in the various tanzeems. (k) There has been a split in the Jamaat-ul-Dawa and the once regimented structure has become a loose group due to intra group rivalries between various sections of the leadership. It must be highlighted that Hafiz Saeed has been accused of promoting his Gujjar Muslim clan while ignoring the rest of the leadership . (l) Highlight the fact that in Khyber Pakhtoonwala and FATA, Pakistan is fighting the same terrorists that it once raised, trained and equipped. It is a matter of time before they turn on the other tanzeems that are operating off their soil. (m) The terrorists should be made to believe that just like the Taliban (which was raised by Pakistan), one day they too would be abandoned by Pakistan. This would make the terrorists more insecure and de-motivate them further. (n) The correct interpretation of the 'Holy Koran' be propagated so that the terrorists who have been misguided and made to believe that they are fighting a Jihad (holy war) understand the true meaning of the word and give up the path of violence. (o) The fact that in Feb 2009 Deobandi scholars have declared a Fatwa against terrorism be highlighted so that those terrorists who follow the Deoband sect revert back from the path of violence. (p) Highlighting the surrenders of terrorists, especially the terrorist commanders, may act as a trigger for other terrorists to surrender.(Refer Appendix Q2) The Security Forces 27. The term security forces includes the Army, the state police and the Central Police Forces. The suggested themes for the security forces are as under :- (a) Psychological conditioning of troops prior to induction be carried out so as to mentally equip them for the conduct of operations. The following needs to be included :- (i) The people of Kashmir have been peace loving and generally secular in their outlook. (ii) The ideologies of the various terrorist groups, separatist organisations and their modus operandi. (iii) The majority in Jammu and Kashmir do not want to be a part of Pakistan and even in the areas infested by terrorism most people just consider Pakistan as an ally in their struggle for independence. (iv) The solution to the Kashmir problem is political and the security forces are merely assisting in reducing the levels of violence. Normalcy in the state can be achieved only by winning the hearts and minds of the local population and not by coercion. (v) The purpose of the security forces is to make the situation on ground conducive for the state machinery to take over and hence there is no requirement of competing with other organisations or within the organisation for the 'Body count'. (vi) The security forces are fighting for a just cause and ultimately they will win. (vii) The security forces are better trained and equipped and have better leadership. The terrorists are on the run and avoid contacts with the security forces. (viii) The terrorists are de-motivated as a result of major shortages in manpower, equipment, and finances,whereas, there is no dearth of the same for the security forces. (ix) The peculiarities of Low Intensity Conflict environment, the importance of maintaining soldierly conduct, respect for the culture, religion and traditions of the people. The importance of media and projecting the correct image of the security forces. The whole nation is with them and is looking up to them. They belong to the best army in the whole world and that they have to live up to the expectations of the nation, their organisation, their units and their families.( Refer Appendix R) Human rights violations and indiscipline shall not be tolerated and the defaulters shall be dealt with severely. (b) The apprehensions of the soldiers on the following issues should be addressed to reduce stress :- (i) Promotions and awards would be fair and transparent. (ii) Expert legal help and support would be provided by the organisation to fight the false and fabricated legal suites. (iii) Posting and leave profile of the men and the officers will be managed effectively. The next of kin of all casualties would be looked after by the organisation in case of any fatalities. (c) Fear as an instrument of psychological operations should be employed so as to prevent unethical practices by battalions. (d) The personnel in the state police should be assured of the safety of their family members from attacks by terrorists. (e) In addition, the state police personnel should be well paid, equipped and trained so that they motivated. The Population of The Country 28. The term population of the country includes all the citizens of the country and the Non Resident Indians. It however excludes the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Suitable themes for the people of the country are as under :- (a) In the past two years, terrorist training camps have been raided in South India and terrorists from Kerala have been eliminated in Jammu and Kashmir. This is a clear indicator of the alienation of the Muslim community and their slow radicalisation. The following psychological operations themes are recommended :- (i) The measures taken by the government for improving the economic condition and the standard of living of the community need to be highlighted. (ii) The annual expenditure incurred by the government to provide subsidies for the travel of the Haj pilgrims. It has to be highlighted that this money is the taxpayer's money and there are no protests from any section of the society regarding this expenditure. (iii) Parallels can be drawn between the condition of Muslims in India and Pakistan, to highlight the better standards of living of the Indian Muslims. (iv) Prominent Muslim citizens like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, should be incorporated to highlight the fact that merit and talent are given due recognition in India. (v) Sagas from history where the Hindus and Muslims have fought shoulder to shoulder in the Revolt of 1857 and the freedom struggle be quoted. The sacrifices of war heroes like Havildar Abdul Hamid, Param Vir Chakra (Posthumous) who laid down his life fighting the Pakistanis for the honour of the country be highlighted. Glorious chapters from the history of the country like the instance when the Mughal Emperor Akbar, a devout Muslim, came with his mighty army to safeguard the honour of the Rajput Queen Padmavati, a Hindu, who had sent a Rakhi to him be publicised. That, the victims of terrorist attacks are both Hindus and Muslims must be highlighted to mobilise opinion against the terrorists and acts of terror. The Fatwa issued by Deobandi scholars against terrorism must be highlighted. Correct interpretation of the Holy Koran, by religious scholars, must be carried out so that religious fundamentalists or anti national elements are not able to whip up communal passions. Impartiality in all issues must be made the norm so that the trust deficit that exists can be overcome. (b) Fear as an instrument of psychological operations must be exploited and stringent punishments be meted out to perpetrators of terrorism and communal violence. Both Hindu and Muslim extremism must be targeted. (c) The people must be made aware of the sacrifices made by the security forces to create a secure environment in the country. This would help in mobilisation of support for the security forces. (d) The power of the media should be exploited in rallying the public behind the security forces. Stringent action must be taken against the media houses trying to whip up communal passions so as to set an example and deter them from such acts in the future. The International Community 29. The international community includes all the countries other than Pakistan. The perception management of the international community can be done by the following :- (a) Proof of terrorist camps existing in Pakistan and it's involvement in providing material and financial support to the terrorists be brought to the notice of the international community . ( Refer Appendix S) (b) Proof of terror strikes, both in India and abroad, emanating from Pakistani soil be highlighted to mobilise international opinion to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state in case it fails to crackdown on the terrorists. (c) India should use it's economic clout to get the international community to condemn Pakistan's actively sponsoring terrorism in India. (d) Highlight the fact that the government in Jammu and Kashmir has been democratically elected by the people and that protests and demonstrations are a part of any democracy. (e) Highlight the fact that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has the least percentage of population living below the poverty line in the entire country. (f) Bring to light the alleged links between the terror outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir and the Afghan Mujhaideen . (g) Bring to light the fact that the Lashkar- e- Toiba and Jamaat-ul-Dawa are one and the same and that these organisations constantly change their name to escape persecution by the world powers. (h) Highlight the fact that Pakistan diverts the funds received by it as economic/ humanitarian aid, from the Western world, for financing the terrorist organisations. (j) The threat of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the terrorists be exploited to coax the international community to pressurise Pakistan to dismantle it's terror network. (k) Make it clear to the international community, that, India has a threshold for patience and restraint and unless the international community exerts pressure on Pakistan to dismantle it's terror network, there is a strong likelihood of conflict between nuclear capable India and Pakistan leading to an international crisis. Cite This Essay To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below:
Layering Meanings / Positions The High Quality of the Process New questions, multifaceted learning processes and various misunderstandings: the two curators Maria Gaida and Martina Stoye, along with exhibition designer and architect Andreas Heller, in conversation with Martin Heller on the experiment “Layering Meanings.” Recorded by Barbara Schindler Martin Heller: I would like to begin our conversation with, for me, the decisive question: what have you learnt from this project, both good and bad? Martina Stoye: This was the first exhibition project whose concept development was handled externally. We had no influence on which institution would be awarded the commission and simply had to wait. Then the search began for artifacts that were particularly multilayered and on which this aspect could be best demonstrated. This task alone became a pleasure for me – i.e. looking at these objects from this perspective. Andreas Heller’s team then formulated the questions, which were a real eye-opener to me, because they were questions that would not normally be raised within our historical research discipline. They asked whether or not the Beatles played a role in our museum’s acquisition of a 19th century Krishna painting. Initially shocked, I rejected the idea vehemently, also with my colleagues in mind. That's when I realized how, in terms of new questioning – and coming from an archeological discipline – one tends to stay within the confines of a traditional scientific discourse. It was refreshing to be confronted with a different sort of questioning. I then pursued the matter, and saw that at the time of the acquisition there certainly had been an increasing interest in Krishna pictures, undoubtedly connected with the Beatles and the upsurge of the Hare Krishna movement in the West. M. Heller: So the project gave you three things: a more open approach, the selection of objects on the basis of non-traditional viewpoints and the new, non-scientific questions posed by Andreas Heller and his team on behalf of the public. Stoye: Yes, those were questions, which went against the grain of what we are accustomed to in our field, but which were also not really solvable given such a short time-frame. Initially, that was a problem for me as a professional. M. Heller: Why? Stoye: Because there is a fear of presenting something to a professional audience before it has been exhaustively researched. Andreas Heller: What do you mean by exhaustively researched? I would argue that there is no such thing. This fear of losing of control! Not just professionals, but also entire museum systems have always believed that this goes hand in hand with loss of quality. But we all know that the process itself is of a high quality. That is why this title was chosen. It is like an onion from which one can continue peeling off layers. Whereby, I don't think one ever reaches the core; one always has to begin anew. I think it’s very important to tell the public that scientific research is a process. “Layering Meanings” represents only a small contribution to that idea. Whether or not we have done everything right or well is another question. We could have gone much further. M. Heller: So, your eureka moment was rather a confirmation of what you already knew? A. Heller: Yes, a confirmation to pursue such discussions in museums more intensively in the future. M. Heller: Did you also learn something of which you were not previously aware? A. Heller: What I have learnt during this project is that the effect we aimed for is not wholly understood by the public. Whereby there is always the question of how many people one can reach anyway. Is it enough when 20 percent say they have understood it – or does it have to be 80 or 100 percent? M. Heller: What did you, Ms. Gaida, as a distanced observer learn? Maria Gaida: I wasn't involved in the selection of objects because I wasn't available at the time, but I wish I had been. At some point I was told it would be the Mayan head, because someone – or probably several people – were fascinated by this object. And it really is fascinating. But what makes me really pleased about this project is that in the 44 years that this item has been exhibited I am sure that never before have so many people viewed it so intensively. And that is thanks to this exhibition. But I would not have chosen it for the “Layering Meanings” exhibition – I have said that before – because one knows so little about it. M. Heller: And is there something from the project about which you could say: “I didn’t know that beforehand”? We are talking here about “learning.” Gaida: No, there isn’t really anything. Not for me. But that doesn't mean that there isn’t plenty for thousands of others to learn. Stoye: I think we often know a lot that we aren’t aware of because the right questions have not been asked. Don't you think? At least that was my experience. M. Heller: That sounds like a worthwhile experience. Stoye: Yes, although I would agree that we should have done more research, gone into things deeper if there had been more time. M. Heller: Researching Indian-influenced fashion of the 1960s isn’t necessarily part of your field. Stoye: No, not at all, I am an archeologist after all. But for me it was a very important stimulus. Now, this way of questioning is always present, although, as I said, time is usually too short to fully engage with it. A. Heller: The biggest provocation was this video, where a blood-like liquid runs over the Mayan head. That is an idea that occurred momentarily when we were standing in front of the massive high steles in the entrance area… Gaida: ... which have nothing to do with the Maya. A. Heller: Yes, but they stand directly in front of the Mayan head and depict war and death motifs. Stoye: That often occurs between the public and museum staff: the public sees things – for example war – and thinks of victims. They perceive it on this level, then group it with other objects, order it in a different way. For the curators it is very very difficult to think always in these “simple” perceptive patterns. It would be wonderful if we could combine the two better. Gaida: The reason for that is in part that the exhibition was conceived in the 1960s and is, in principal, still organized in exactly the same as it was 45 years ago. Hardly anything has been improved upon. And so we are not aware that the steles originated in a completely different culture from the head, which you then chose. A. Heller: Is there a trick to enable you as an academic to step back for a moment and see this object in a new way? Completely forgetting your own biography and viewing it anew? Gaida: There are probably a few things I really cannot view with complete impartiality, although I wouldn't include the Mayan head in that. The fact that you raised the idea of the Mayan head having a link with life and death irritated me initially. There is no intimation of this being the case. Stoye: It is an association. Gaida: Well alright, if those were your associations, because you had seen the steles beforehand, which have nothing to do with it, but for you became associated with each other and so finally the head is presented in that way. I just ask myself, what does the visitor make of it. Because they don't know if that is information based on fact, or simply someone’s association – you, Andreas Heller, or someone else’s. What conclusions do the viewers draw? Because nowhere does it state that there is an association. Stoye: The topic of authorship was extremely blurred, which has advantages and disadvantages. A. Heller: I agree that we made mistakes. Which also led to the fact that the design was too “finished,” although it was meant to have a workshop character. M. Heller: The design expressed the idea: this is the voice of authority. A. Heller: Yes, and precisely that was not our aim. Gaida: But that is exactly how it comes across. A. Heller: The actual theme was contemplation. And that's why you are right when you say authoritarian, because ideally we would have liked to lock the doors! After half an hour we would let you out again. (all laugh) M. Heller: In the end an exhibition was created that had an authoritarian air, although something else was intended. And on the other hand it became a text-based exhibition, which for many had something excessive about it. A. Heller: I would say: text per se is not a bad thing. It’s not purely intellectual. But if an entire museum were organized like that, I would say, “That won’t do.” One other thing is important: we chose the items because they have nothing really to do with each other. For us, the connections were made during the course of working with them, which is, of course, not at all scientific. But pretty amazing. And I like that about museums: that one can create synapses between things that actually don't belong together. But we know that they do actually belong together. Collections that have been brought together coincidentally or to an extent based on ideological motivation, even if consisting of more than half a million items, offer an invitation to play and create new inter-relationships that didn't exist before in the real world. For many people, especially in museums like this one, that is what makes them exciting; for others it's a no-go area. M. Heller: Thank you very much – that was an appropriate summing up! Dr. Maria Gaida specialized in ancient American studies, ethnology and prehistory at Hamburg University, gaining her doctorate in 1983. After a traineeship at the Ethnologischen Museum Berlin, she has been curator of the Mesoamerican collection since 1993 and head of the department of collections since 1998. Gaida is also co-publisher of the museum magazine “Baessler-Archiv” and co-author, along with Nikolai Grube, of the book “Die Maya. Schrift und Kunst” (Köln 2006). Andreas Heller, architect from Hamburg, has been designing since the mid-1980s exhibitions and interiors for numerous institutions and museums in Germany. In 1989 he founded the Studio Andreas Heller GmbH, an interdisciplinary planning office for cultural, recreational and educational institutions. Martin Heller is a member of the management board of the Humboldt Lab Dahlem and is responsible for the contextual concept development of the Humboldt-Forum. Martina Stoye has been curator of South and Southeast-Asian Art at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin since 2008. After curatorial work at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin she took up a post as lecturer on Indian Art History at the Freie Universität Berlin from 1995 to 2001. She subsequently conducted research into Buddhist Gandhara art and in 2007/2008 worked on a major Gandhara exhibition for the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle Bonn. Barbara Schindler works in the field of art PR. Together with Christiane Kühl she supervises the online documentation of the projects for the Humboldt Lab Dahlem. This interview was recorded in July 2014 in Berlin. Exhibiting Contexts: But how? The Humboldt Lab project “Layering Meanings” was dedicated to information, contexts and the narratives of selected exhibits. The aim of this commentary is to review what method of imparting information lay behind the attempt and how it was implemented. Aspects discussed included: design, multiperspectival views, transparency and authorship. Upon entering the exhibition one stands in front of four massive black cubes. They appear to contradict their stated intention – “achieving the contextualisation of museum objects by making them equally attractive as approachable for the public,” as stated in the museum’s flyer – hermetic and secretive. The cube-like cabinets serve as informational spaces for the selected exhibits: calligraphic manuscript, a Mayan head, Khipu and Picchvai. Black walls, white text – the design is very restrained and dark. The walls are covered with text, similar to a notice board, with few illustrations or photos. In addition, every room has a tabletop printed with writing and images; all items of information are similarly designed and so attain a uniformity, a homogenous surface; only the font size varies. It is wonderful that the contexts of these objects are given so much space. But is it possible for such static cubes, with their printed walls of information, to really convey the complex content and their relationships with each other? The texts are structured chronologically and hierarchically, but our knowledge is formed as flexible mesh structures. Mind maps, charts and rhizomes could render multilayered contents and their references more effectively. Although occasionally images, films and an audio station accompany the mainly written information, the information cubes themselves have little experimental or playful character: the option of seeking out more in-depth information oneself, or of contributing one’s own knowledge, commentary or questions is missing. In constructivist pedagogy, amongst other things, the multi-sensory principle is applied; emphasis is placed on the experience of the one learning and on the process of retention of the learner. Not every type of learner1 likes to read texts; some prefer a medial or interactive method. The objects themselves invite the viewer to become active – for example the calligraphic manuscript, suggests the act of writing, or the Khipu the invention of one’s own messages. Although the tables indicate that one could work here, they serve only as static text and image carriers: ideally one would wish for filing cabinets of index cards, drawers, reference books for additional information or tools for creating one’s own commentary. The positive aspect of analog design is surely the opportunity provided for a deceleration of the viewing process and for the use of tactile sense, which could have been improved on. “Each of the 500,000 objects collected here in this museum has its own history. We don’t appropriate them but instead try to understand them with the aid of questions (...)” it states in the introductory wall text of “Layering Meanings.” The idea of covering each cube at the entrance with introductory questions invites independent research.2 This approach, of acquiring knowledge independently and seeking answers could be boosted through an expansion of the forms for providing information. In order to promote variety and accommodate different learning types the presentation could be organized differently: through a greater variety of media – more objects, films, audio documents, images, illustrations. Through a suspension of an informational hierarchy – web-like, ordered introductory texts, background information and definitions; through an expansion of text types – interviews, commentaries, essays, quotes, comics and portraits. As previously mentioned, the contextual information has rarely been afforded such a high ranking as in this exhibition. Information about the objects – which is what most visitors demand, as reflected in guest books, on comment cards and in personal conversations. But how is a museum to deal with these expectations? Should they deliver facts, thus providing an interpretation of an object, or could they perhaps provide a more open and critical sort of contextualization? “Layering Meanings” presents a lot of information that steers the viewer towards the objects, but this could be supplemented, as in British museums, by a multiperspectival approach: about one object, one exhibition or one topic, several people provide their personal or professional point of view. In the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, up to now, one would have had to search in vain for alternative perspectives, critical approaches and post-colonial questions – here, potentially, the Humboldt Lab could provide a suitable stage. Stefan Koldehoff, the arts and culture journalist, quoted a study on information policy at a conference on art education in Münster in 2007. It examined which institutions the public trusts: in first place was the “Tagesschau” (public television news program) and in second place were museums. This granting of trust should be taken seriously and continually reviewed. The following words at the entrance of “Layering Meanings” signal a transparence of information. “What is that? Where does it come from? What was it for? How did it get here? We ask these questions of the curators and professionals. In this way, as a dialog of questions and answers, a joint voyage is undertaken, leading in turn to new questions and discoveries. It is not results that are shown, but rather the path we have trodden to reach the exhibited objects. They still conceal many puzzles. Our presentation is an invitation to you, to take up the journey from where we left off and to undertake your own journey of discovery.” As a visitor, one would have liked to have been privy to the question and answer process between the makers, the curators and academics: it would have been fascinating to have been a fly-on-the-wall witness during the search for contexts and different perspectives with regard to the objects. These processes are, unfortunately, not presented clearly enough in the exhibition space – it would also have been useful to be told who, how, and why, certain individuals were included in the knowledge-seeking process, what information the institute has, which it does not, where it needs to draw on the expertise of others or where there is divergence on current historical research. Who is Speaking? Authorship is an important question, when it comes to credibility and transparency. If recipients are given an opportunity to decide between several perspectives, they are accepted as mature visitors. With such openness and impartiality with regard to the museum’s collections, one could include such discussion and critical approaches as part of the displays and thus appeal to a more diverse public. Equally, participative tendencies3 reflected in methods like user-generated content or co-creative processes, could be incorporated into the communicative practice. In particular, an attempt like “Layering Meanings” could even include empty spaces and tools for the public to express its own opinions. What to do? Contexts are good for the objects! If they are then given enough space as they are here, then so much the better. I would like to see more of such spatial data banks; I would also like them to present or invite the use of archive material and information collected by the institution as well as continuing perspectives from outside sources - experts and public. Theoretical or subjective day-to-day items of information create relationships between the objects and those viewing them and in this way they gain a stronger, multi-tonal, social relevance. In contrast to the current and much quoted study about average lengths of stay in the museum4, whose results, among others, showed that, on average, visitors devote only 11 seconds to an object, “Layering Meanings” stresses a focussing and slowing down of the viewing process. The design of a framework to encourage an intensive discourse, exchange and self-generated research are also recommended for the Humboldt-Forum. “Layering Meanings” has taken on the, up to now, rare form of communicative formats, namely informational and research spaces. For the future Humboldt-Forum I would wish to see more of these space experiments, which test how far they can be implemented visibly in the exhibition space, using complex information and questions which interact in a transparent, multiperspectival, critical and playful manner with their public. 1 Cf. David Kolb: Experiential Learning. Experiences as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey, 1984. 2 Questions on the Mayan head quoted as example: “Where does the head come from? God or human head? A cult object? Why a mask? When was it made? How and with what materials was it made? Who discovered it? What is the fascination with the Mayans? How did the head come to the museum? Still a puzzle?” 3 Cf. current publications like: Angela Jannelli: Wilde Museen. Bielefeld, 2012; Susanne Gesser, Martin Handschin, Angela Jannelli, Sibylle Lichtensteiger (Ed.): Das partizipative Museum. Bielefeld 2012; Nina Simon: The Participatory Museum. Santa Cruz, CA 2010. 4 E-Motion Study by Martin Tröndle, University of Applied Sciences, Basel, mapping-museum-experience.com/ergebnisse/kuenstlerische (viewed July, 15, 2013) Daniela Bystron studied rehabilitative and art education in Cologne and Zürich, as well as the history of art, media and pedagogics in Düsseldorf and Cologne. Since 2006, she has been assistant research officer for education and communication at the Museen zu Berlin and responsible for art communication at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin and the Neue Nationalgalerie. She is a tutor at the Freien Universität Berlin, the Universität der Künste Berlin as well as lecturer at the Bundesakademie für kulturelle Bildung Wolfenbüttel and the Institut für Kulturkonzepte in Vienna.
It’s been a problem for a very long time. At least according to the historical record. Blotchiness. Sinking in. Dead spots. For oil painters these are well known terms, conjuring up images of skin disease as much as painted surfaces, but whatever words are used the implication is clear – it’s an undesirable nuisance; a loathsome interloper in the creative process. As for what to do about it, the traditional and handed down remedies have run the gamut from oiling out with different recipes to the frequent application of retouch varnishes of various types. What is the current thinking about all this? What might be the cause and best solution? What follows is not an exhaustive treatment on this topic by any means, but it shares results from some current testing and offers what we feel are best practices given what is currently known. The Problem in Short Before heading toward causes and cures it’s good to briefly define the problem, especially if this issue is new to you. What is being described here is the appearance of a dull matte area in a section of an oil painting. Thus the sense that the color has “sunken-in”, or gone “dead”. This is particularly annoying with darker colors, where their matte appearance makes them seem lighter and creates the problem of matching a color with fresh, glossier paint much more difficult (Image 1). Absorbent Grounds and Solvent Use The most common chorus as to the causes of sunken-in patches of paint tends to focus on two areas – overly absorbent grounds and paints thinned with too much solvent. And of course these are two faces of the same coin, as both imply that the paint has become underbound to some extent: in one instance, by the oil being pulled down into a thirsty, matte surface, while in the other being spread out too thinly and readily soaking into the underlying layer. We wanted to put both of these causes to the test, so painted various swatches over an assortment of grounds, including GOLDEN Gesso, Acrylic Ground for Pastels, Absorbent Ground, and Williamsburg Titanium Oil Ground and Lead Oil Ground. For paints we chose Raw Umber, a color commonly associated with sinking-in, and Phthalo Green, which dries to a reliably glossy film like most synthetic organics. These were applied in various ways: thickly brushed out, blended with odorless mineral spirits to the consistency of cream, rubbed out with a cloth or cotton swab, and finally, mixed with a fast drying alkyd or Stand Oil as a glaze (Image 2). Very Thin Applications A third cause needs to be mentioned, which functions independently of a grounds’ particular absorbency; namely film thickness. For many paints, it turns out this alone is enough to cause a matte appearance to develop, as you can see in the following examples. In the first one (Image 3) we applied Raw Umber and Phthalo Green in three different thicknesses onto a non-absorbent polyester film. Sheen is notoriously difficult to capture in a photo, but if you follow the reflections across the curved surface you can see changing degrees of gloss. For Phthalo Green, the gloss actually increases the thinner the paint is applied. Raw Umber, on the other hand, grows increasingly matte and in a very thin film, has a nearly dead flat appearance. Since none of this can be caused by absorbency, and Phthalo Green has even less oil by volume than Raw Umber, the only possible explanation is that the particle sizes of the different pigments have a large impact on the final sheen of the paint, especially when applied very thinly. The second set of examples (Image 4) are simply two thicker piles of paint that were then scraped with a palette knife to create a thin film on a lacquered, non-absorbent drawdown card. In both cases the glossiness evident in the body of paint is lost in the thin scrape-out, where the thinner the paint the more matte the appearance. In fact, at its thinnest, the paint takes on an almost powdery appearance. In the last example (Image 5) we show Cobalt Blue Deep and Raw Umber cast over Williamsburg Lead Oil Ground on polyester film. These are both cast at 6 mil thick, about the same as two sheets of paper, and clearly show the degrees of gloss you would expect for a well bound film. The thin, very matte strips to the top and sides are areas where the paint was scraped very thinly by the drawdown bar during application. The bands to the left are on the polyester film, while the ones on top are on the Oil Ground. This is important as it shows that the dead matte appearance is independent of any difference in absorbency between the Oil Ground and polyester film. Again, the only explanation is that the paints, when applied very thinly, can have the same appearance as a “sunken-in” area usually attributed to solvents or an overly absorbent surface. Test Panel Results While only including two in this testing, they performed as expected, with Phthalo Green creating a glossier film in all instances, even when thinned with solvent to a very fluid consistency and applied on an extremely absorbent ground. As Phthalo Green has less oil by volume than Raw Umber, this is clearly a function of pigment particle size more than anything else. It’s important to note that the connection between absorbent grounds and sinking-in stretches well back into the historical record, with documents recording artists bemoaning, complaining and finding fixes for grounds they felt were too absorbent. At the same time, a seemingly equal number pursued them with fervor, especially during Impressionism and other periods when a matte surface was actually prized and thought to give a more direct, brighter, and less yellowing appearance. So this is not a new issue that can be easily hung at the door of modern formulations or materials, but rather a common one known to occur with even the most traditional materials of the highest quality. GOLDEN Acrylic Gesso (both 2 and 4 coats) Overall, while slightly more absorbent than the various oil grounds, the word slightly needs to be emphasized. Neither application was anywhere near the extreme absorbency conjured up by so many on forums and discussion boards. That said, these tests only included our own brand, and sadly acrylic gessoes have become a category with a notoriously broad spectrum of quality and performance in the marketplace, with many being overly absorbent and even brittle due to excessive amounts of fillers and water. In the results, 4 coats did better than 2, feeling less absorbent and performing closer to an oil ground. However, wiping paint away was not as easy as with oil grounds, something that is frequently noted. (Images 6 & 7) GOLDEN Acrylic Ground for Pastels / GOLDEN Absorbent Ground In feel and performance these come closest to various traditional absorbent grounds, such as chalk gesso. In all applications Raw Umber had areas that were sunken-in, especially where wiped away or thinned with solvent. It clearly did best when Stand Oil was added. Phthalo Green, on the other hand, did okay – not as well as elsewhere, but clearly able to hold onto some luster and, with added mediums, able to maintain a glossy sheen even in a thin glaze. Please note, while included in these tests, the Absorbent Ground Tech Sheet cautions against the use of full-bodied oil paint applications as the extremely porous surface can absorb too much binder, leaving the paint sunken in or, at worse, underbound. (Images 8 & 9) Williamsburg Lead Oil Ground, Williamsburg Titanium Oil Ground Both performed well, with minor differences mostly related to their sheen. The glossier Titanium Oil Ground allowed for glossier paints overall, although rubbed-out and solvent-thinned applications of Raw Umber still appeared blotchy and dry when no mediums were added. Phthalo Green, on the other hand, appeared glossy on both, even in the rubbed out areas. (Images 10 & 11) On absorbent surfaces the Stand Oil generally did better than the more fluid alkyd medium, its thicker consistency allowing for better hold-out and resistance to soaking in. However the Stand Oil, as expected, also dried more slowly. Solutions to the Problem In the past it was common to deal with this problem through the use of retouch varnishes or various recipes for mediums that were applied in order to resaturate the matte areas and help with color matching when starting to paint again. Unfortunately these were often extended over the entire painting, creating issues later on for conservators as these layers would yellow badly as they aged and, in the case of varnish, grow brittle and remain sensitive to solvents. In light of that, current recommendations are much more targeted and simple. In general, oiling out is not recommended. However, if you choose to oil out your painting we recommend you follow the steps outlined in the “Best Practices” section below. If you are finding that you frequently need to oil out your painting it is best to consider the following factors that are likely at the root of the problem: - Your ground may be too absorbent. Try experimenting with different grounds to see if this helps prevent your oil paints from sinking in. - You are adding too much solvent to your paint. Try to avoid using too much solvent or even any solvent at all. - You are using paint with a high pigment to binder ratio. Some paint formulations may inherently have a low concentration of binder. Try adding a touch of oil medium to your paints to help maintain sheen and body. If possible, repaint a sunken-in area with the same or similar color but this time add a small amount of a bodied oil, such as Stand Oil, which should prevent any further sinking in and, as a result, should dry with a soft but even sheen. When repainting is not possible or practical, one can apply a small amount of a drying oil only to an area you plan to work into, making sure to wipe off any excess. Preferably use the same oil or medium found in the paints or in that section, applying as little as possible and using only enough to even out the sheen. Never extend this treatment to the painting as a whole, or to areas that will not be painted over in that day’s session. Doing so can create problems with adhesion and the eventual darkening and yellowing of those areas. Adding solvent to the oil to create a thinner application, or thinning something more viscous like Stand Oil, is possible but care must be taken as young oil films can remain solvent sensitive, especially when underbound. In addition, solvents can extract materials from the film and make it more brittle over time. Varnishing or Retouch Varnish Used at the End This can take patience and try nerves, but if experiencing dead areas after a painting is finished the best thing would be to wait for it to dry sufficiently to allow for a final varnish. Waiting 6-12 months remains the safe rule before varnishing, and while there are some who advocate a shorter period, we feel there has not been enough research done on the possible consequences. That said, if needing to apply something earlier, after making sure it is at least hard dry, the use of a proper retouch varnish would be preferable. These are typically composed of thinned-down versions of full strength varnishes and should be applied as thinly as possible, aiming to simply create an even overall sheen. Damar and other natural resin varnishes should not be used for this purpose due to yellowing and embrittlement. Retouch Varnish Used in the Process of Painting Despite the name, this is not recommended as a way to remedy sunken-in areas of color during the course of a painting. Doing so complicates the structure of the piece by introducing a very different material in between paint layers, not to mention that retouch varnishes are almost always removable and therefore poses a problem for future conservation and cleaning as they could be reactivated. That said, if you have used these, simply make sure to make note of it on the back of your painting. Mediums or Oils as a Final Layer DO NOT USE. More than any other practice, this is likely the worst option as it introduces a permanent layer of oil that will only darken and yellow with time and with few treatment options available to reverse this condition. Also, should you need to paint on it further, the dried layer of oil or medium could cause issues with adhesion, beading, and potential problems with cracking in the future.
Sort: Category . Published . Updated . Title . Words . Chapters . Reviews . Status . All the Small Things by Chibi-Slacker reviews Ranma didn't always like his dad. But Genma had one major advantage over his LAST dad: He wasn't an insane scientist from the Silver Millennium. Meet the Senshi, Ranma. I hope you're friends, because you're stuck with them. (Contains much Old Shame, newbie mistakes, and no IC-ness from anyone involved. You've been warned.) (Shut up, lots of stories have a decade plus hiatus.) Anime X-overs - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 12 - Words: 95,976 - Reviews: 114 - Favs: 246 - Follows: 222 - Updated: 10/14/2016 - Published: 1/31/2001 by Miko2 reviews Ranma and Akane attend St. Hebereke's School for Girls. It's a Ranmachan story, yeah, it's been done too many times before, but you know, whatever. Ranma - Rated: T - English - Humor/Adventure - Chapters: 38 - Words: 307,280 - Reviews: 791 - Favs: 543 - Follows: 621 - Updated: 1/8/2016 - Published: 5/20/2006 - Ranma, Akane Twice in a Millennium by khammel reviews A Sequel to Fire's "Sailor Ranko" Crossover - Sailor Moon & Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Drama/Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 12,568 - Reviews: 21 - Favs: 166 - Follows: 56 - Updated: 9/12/2012 - Published: 11/2/2002 - Ranma, Akane - Complete SMST 12: Sailor Moon's Trek! by Al-Ocramed reviews Sailor Moon in the world of Star Trek! DONE! Chapter 100 update. FINAL REVISION. Crossover - Ranma & Sailor Moon X-overs - Rated: M - English - Adventure - Chapters: 117 - Words: 233,937 - Reviews: 309 - Favs: 51 - Follows: 17 - Updated: 12/8/2009 - Published: 11/13/2001 - Ranma - Complete Mamoru Must Die! by Baka Gaijin30 reviews Repost. There are a lot of fans out there of the Rei and Usagi pairing. There's just one problem... Mamoru. A series of omake in which Mamoru Must Die! Sailor Moon - Rated: T - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 19 - Words: 32,434 - Reviews: 68 - Favs: 96 - Follows: 40 - Updated: 6/30/2008 - Published: 2/5/2008 - Rei H./Raye/Sailor Mars, Usagi T./Serena/Bunny/Sailor Moon Reflections of Ruin by P.H. Wise reviews A little over sixteen years ago, Hotaru Tomoe died a stillborn child. What does this have to do with Ranma? Quite a lot, as it turns out. A Sailor Moon, Ranma, Cthulhu Mythos crossover fukufic. Completed. Ranma - Rated: T - English - Drama/Horror - Chapters: 20 - Words: 121,389 - Reviews: 361 - Favs: 514 - Follows: 313 - Updated: 11/30/2007 - Published: 12/28/2006 - Ranma - Complete Heir to the Empire by Ozzallos reviews Usagi Tsukino is the heir to Serenity's Silver Millennium. She's also about to get the surprise of her life, as is one Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything Goes school of Martial Arts. COMPLETE. Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Drama/Adventure - Chapters: 8 - Words: 112,734 - Reviews: 774 - Favs: 1,514 - Follows: 723 - Updated: 1/13/2007 - Published: 2/12/2006 - Ranma - Complete Blood Calls Out For Blood by Miriani reviews When two of the Senshi are slain, Usagi must choose strong warriors to replace them. But will one of Japan's most powerful martial artists be able to give up everything he ever knew? Sailor Moon X-overs - Rated: M - English - Drama/Supernatural - Chapters: 11 - Words: 28,347 - Reviews: 37 - Favs: 64 - Follows: 53 - Updated: 9/22/2005 - Published: 5/24/2002 The Person I Look Up To by Bill K reviews A NeoSailor Moon story: An innocent journey to meet a newly ascended senshi on another planet suddenly devolves into a perilously unstable situation that threatens Queen Serenity's life and severely tests the ability of young Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon - Rated: K+ - English - Adventure/Mystery - Chapters: 12 - Words: 37,773 - Reviews: 75 - Favs: 25 - Follows: 7 - Updated: 8/27/2005 - Published: 6/11/2005 - Chibiusa T./Rini/Sailor Chibi (Mini) Moon, Usagi T./Serena/Bunny/Sailor Moon Black Moon, Eclipse of the Sun by Arthur Hansen reviews A continuation of Sailor Ranko. Epilogue finally finished. Crossover - Sailor Moon & Ranma - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 4 - Words: 54,278 - Reviews: 27 - Favs: 79 - Follows: 27 - Updated: 4/30/2005 - Published: 6/10/2001 - Complete One Last Chance by rhuobhe26 reviews A dying Ranma makes a wish that gives him the chance to make things right in his life, revisions underway and new chapters soon to follow. Ranma - Rated: T - English - Humor/Romance - Chapters: 20 - Words: 115,825 - Reviews: 374 - Favs: 225 - Follows: 106 - Updated: 2/14/2005 - Published: 11/17/2002 by Fire reviews A Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon Crossover Crossover - Ranma & Sailor Moon - Rated: K - English - Adventure - Chapters: 1 - Words: 56,352 - Reviews: 57 - Favs: 384 - Follows: 126 - Published: 5/24/2000 - Usagi T./Serena/Bunny/Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi/Sailor Scouts, Ranma The Bet: A Study In Scarlet by Chibi-Dave reviews An altered universe fic, where Akane's the strongest one there is! Ranma - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 5 - Words: 35,831 - Reviews: 37 - Favs: 15 - Follows: 7 - Published: 12/23/1999 Sort: Category . Published . Updated . Title . Words . Chapters . Reviews . Status . The Wotch: Another Day reviews It's another normal day in Tandy Gardens for Anne Onymous, or is it? Misc. Comics - Rated: K - English - Humor/Family - Chapters: 1 - Words: 1,542 - Reviews: 10 - Favs: 4 - Follows: 1 - Published: 9/20/2008 - Complete Sailor Ranko: A Love Story reviews Immediately after returning from Jadeite's world, Ranma has to tell Ucchan he chose Akane and Akane has to deal with Shampoo. Set after Sailor Ranko and before Twice in a Millennium Ranma - Rated: K - English - Humor/Drama - Chapters: 4 - Words: 27,455 - Reviews: 76 - Favs: 102 - Follows: 56 - Updated: 9/7/2008 - Published: 2/22/2008 - Akane, Ranma - Complete Ace Ventura: Suddenly Seeking Panda reviews BonBon, the giant panda has vanished from the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. There's only one who can find him, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Poor Genma, or perhaps, poor Japan. Ranma - Rated: K - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 3 - Words: 20,173 - Reviews: 39 - Favs: 14 - Follows: 10 - Updated: 12/27/2007 - Published: 7/20/2007 - Ranma, Genma - Complete Sailor Ranko: Thrice in a Millennium reviews Set after Sailor Ranko: The Harder They Fall. RanmaSailor Sun and the gang battle Saffron. Ukyou has a side effect. Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 17 - Words: 122,848 - Reviews: 384 - Favs: 170 - Follows: 159 - Updated: 7/30/2007 - Published: 2/16/2003 - Ranma, Akane Happosai's life of DOOM reviews Happosai has been selected to become a demon first class of Perverted Sex. Who is stupid enough to challenge him? Cross with Oh, My Goddess. Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Humor/Drama - Chapters: 6 - Words: 45,061 - Reviews: 121 - Favs: 46 - Follows: 47 - Updated: 7/6/2007 - Published: 7/4/2003 - Happosai, Ranma Sailor Ranko: But it's what we make reviews Sailor Ranko Tunnel Vision standalone sidestory. Where did John Connor get the idea to have the T800 obey his commands? Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Angst/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 1 - Words: 7,401 - Reviews: 13 - Favs: 38 - Follows: 13 - Published: 3/9/2004 - Complete Luna's Plight reviews Luna had to do some embarrassing things to survive until she found the moon princess. Sailor Moon - Rated: K - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 1 - Words: 1,021 - Reviews: 19 - Favs: 13 - Follows: 3 - Published: 10/25/2003 - Luna - Complete Special Assignment reviews A section of Heaven is overloaded with work. The goddesses have to help ease the burden. It's a dirty job, but it has to be done. Oh My Goddess! - Rated: K - English - Angst/Spiritual - Chapters: 1 - Words: 1,653 - Reviews: 13 - Favs: 14 - Follows: 3 - Published: 4/4/2003 - Belldandy, Keiichi M. - Complete Ryoga for dinner reviews Ranma deals with Ryoga in a special way... Ranma - Rated: K - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 1 - Words: 611 - Reviews: 54 - Favs: 41 - Follows: 6 - Published: 3/27/2003 - Ryoga, Ranma - Complete Independence Day reviews R/R please!!! On July 2nd, They Arrive. On July 3rd, They Attack. July 4th is Independence Day. Chapter #5 is up Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Sci-Fi/Adventure - Chapters: 5 - Words: 20,552 - Reviews: 38 - Favs: 8 - Follows: 10 - Updated: 3/14/2003 - Published: 1/6/2003 Sailor Ranko: The harder they fall reviews Completed Fic. Sailor Sun/Ranma vs. Godzilla tale R/R please! Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Drama/Humor - Chapters: 19 - Words: 116,671 - Reviews: 243 - Favs: 117 - Follows: 40 - Updated: 2/12/2003 - Published: 12/5/2002 - Complete Ace Ventura: When Charlotte Calls reviews Azusa Shiratori's pet pig, Charlotte, has gone missing. It's up to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to bring back her wayward piggy. Ranma - Rated: K - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 1 - Words: 6,622 - Reviews: 28 - Favs: 20 - Follows: 4 - Updated: 1/20/2003 - Published: 1/19/2003 - Ranma, Ryoga - Complete Sailor Ranko: Just add water reviews Completed fic. Sailor Sun / Ranma against Happosai unleashing a terrible demon on the world and the Senshi have to deal with it. R/R please! Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Humor/Drama - Chapters: 15 - Words: 73,763 - Reviews: 125 - Favs: 112 - Follows: 43 - Updated: 12/6/2002 - Published: 11/11/2002 - Complete Sailor Ranko: Tunnel Vision reviews Completed fic. Sailor Sun/Ranma - Sailor Moon - Terminator Crossover, Sequel to Sailor Ranko / Twice In a Millenium Ranma - Rated: K+ - English - Adventure/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 30 - Words: 133,303 - Reviews: 190 - Favs: 154 - Follows: 59 - Updated: 11/29/2002 - Published: 9/22/2002 - Complete
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Effective on March 21st, 2013 In Burning Amp 1 we examined an amplifier circuit designed to complement the hardware we gave away to some attendees at last October's Burning Amp Festival in the San Francisco bay area. This first design centered on a power output stage having of four banks of parallel N channel Mosfets. It was a single-ended Class A amplifier which delivered high quality sound with only local feedback. Burning Amp 2 will use virtually the same front end and power supply but coupled to complementary banks of N and P channel power Mosfets used as followers in a push-pull Class A configuration. There is an advantage to the push-pull Class A output stage over the single-ended output stage of the BA-1 as it can be operated more efficiently and delivers much higher output current into load impedances below 8 ohms. As with BA-1, this amplifier has a voltage gain stage which uses matched P channel Jfets to differentially accept a balanced or single-ended input signal. Following the Jfets, an N channel Mosfet provides single-ended voltage amplification controlled by a local loop. The output stage is a push-pull Class A power follower, biased by a TL431 monolithic shunt voltage regulator. The component numbers here will correspond to those in later, more detailed schematics. We see the JFET input differential pair Q201 biased by current source Q202, the voltage gain transistor Q203, the output bias voltage source Q13 and the output power followers Q1 and Q2. Local feedback for the front end comes through R204. R201 equals R202, R203 equals R204 and the gain of the balanced front end is set by the ratio of R204 / R202. P201 is a variable resistor which adjusts the DC offset of the front end, and Q203 drives a bootstrapped source formed by R208, R209, and C208. Here is the basic schematic of the power supply. This is essentially identical to many of the power supplies found in earlier articles such as the Zen series and the First Watt amplifiers. The components are fairly ordinary. As the typical Burning Amp will dissipate maybe 300 watts, the transformer wants to be rated at least twice that. The diode bridge is 35 amps at 200+ volts, and you can use ordinary or fancy high-speed bridges as you please. There were a variety of transformers given away with these chassis, and our goal is to have approximately +/- 25 volts on the supply rails. Voltages from 18 to 30 volts are acceptable, and for transformers with secondaries much higher than 20 volts AC, operation using the primary taps in series as shown may reduce the secondary voltages to the desired levels. C1 and C2 are line-rated types only, as they will be filtering AC line voltages. Thermistors TH1 through TH3 are high power types such as Keystone CL60. TH1 and TH2 are used to suppress inrush surges on turn-on, and also are useful at reducing mechanical noise in the transformers in conditions of high line noise. You will see that the chassis of the amp is to be directly attached to the AC Earth, and TH3 is used to attach analog ground to the chassis through the resistance of TH3, reducing issues with ground loops. C3 through C6 are your standard high capacity power supply capacitors. The “long” Burning Amp chassis with parallel output devices “6 deep” accommodates four such capacitors, the “shorter” chassis holds two. I recommend that the owners of the “short” chassis to find a way to mount two more capacitors at the front of the amp for C3 and C4. You will also note 10 uF film capacitors across the supply lines. You can delete these, remembering that the prototype used them. All the resistors in the supply are 3 watt or higher types, and you can see R1 through R8 used to form an RC filter to reduce the supply ripple on the second set of capacitors. From a layout standpoint, you can wire the supply just as you see on the schematic. The two crucial things to remember is that the ground point labeled STAR is the one you want to bring the signal grounds back to. The other issue is to keep the signal wiring at some physical distance from the transformer, AC lines, and the rectifier bridge and the wires attached to it. Because this output stage is intended for more than one project, a modular approach is being taken, and we will consider the output stage by itself. Here is the schematic of the “6 deep” output stage. The “4 deep” output stage is achieved by deleting two pairs of output devices and the associated resistors. All the parts are also numbered between 101 and 199. The 1 ohm resistors are all 3 watt types, and the output devices are best matched for (the) Vgs within about 0.1 volts or so at 500 mA or so. It is not necessary or practical to match the N channel parts to the P channel parts. P101 is used to set the bias current of the output stage, and P102 is used to adjust the output DC offset. As with the output stage, the front end needs good stand-alone qualities. Besides accommodating single-ended and balanced inputs, we want a range of potential voltage gain figures, the ability to swing the output stage close to the rails, and performance that will not significantly degrade the stand-alone performance of the output stage. Most amplifiers enclose the output stage in the feedback loop with the front end, but that will not be the case here. This is largely the same as BA-1 with the removal of all the output stage biasing elements: All the parts are numbered in the range of 201 to 299. This front end circuit is different from BA-1 in that it does not include the parts to bias the output stage – those have been shifted to the output stage schematic to make these projects more modular in the future. It also deletes C204, the capacitor from the output of the front end to ground, as it happens that the output stage of BA-2 has more input capacitance than that of BA-1, providing a more optimal amount for a clean square wave response. I have also lowered the gain, although you can put it back in if you like. Q201 is a dual matched pair of P channel Jfets, part 2SJ109. These are in scarce supply (although the recipients of Burning Amps will each get a pair). They can be substituted with matched 2SJ74 types, and a number of other parts will function with lesser performance. Q201 is biased by a constant current source formed by Q202 and R205. Q202, an N channel JFET 2SK170 with Idss of about 10 mA, is operated as a constant current source by simply attaching the Gate pin to the Source pin. If you don't have a 2SK170 with the 10 mA Idss, you can parallel two lesser Idss parts. The 10 mA figure is not critical, and potentiometer P201 provides flexibility on the value. R205 takes up some of the dissipation that would otherwise be found in Q202, keeping it within dissipation spec. As shown on the schematic, you will typically see about 10 volts across this part, reflecting the 10 mA current. R201 through 204 form the balanced inputs networks. R201 = R202 and R203 = R204, and the gain is R204/R202. Compensation capacitors C201 and C202 form the high frequency roll-off for the gain, and while C201 is not strictly essential, it helps to retain the balanced input common mode rejection figure at high frequencies. When operating the amplifier with a single-ended (RCA) input, the negative input is shorted to ground. You can use dual input connectors, RCA and XLR with the hot RCA connected to pin 2 (+) of the XLR and RCA ground to pin 1. Pin 3 is the (-) input, and can be shorted to pin 1 on the XLR for single-ended input. The output signal from the input JFET appears across P201 and drives the Gate of Mosfet Q203 which provides the remainder of the voltage gain for the front end. P201 provides adjustment against the expected variations of components in the front end and is used to set the output DC figure of the front end only. No “lag” frequency compensation is employed. The Drain of the Mosfet Q203 is biased with about 15 mA of current provided by the series 3 watt resistor values of R208 and R209. On the Source of Q203 the gain is degenerated by R207 at 100 ohms, limiting the gain and improving the linearity and bandwidth of this stage. The point between R208 and R209 is “bootstrapped” from the output of the amplifier through C208. In many designs a constant current source would be employed here, but this approach is simpler. You will note that RC networks appear between the output node of the front end and the input of the output stage. C203 rolls off the low frequency response at about 2 Hz and I chose to use a 10 uF polypropylene type here, as the only capacitor in the signal path. You could consider using an Elna 10 F silk electrolytic here, in which case you want to orient the + polarity pointed to the left, toward the R215. R210, R211, C205 and C206 form a supply decoupling filter which helps keep the noise low by filtering the ripple from the raw power supply rails. All the usual comments about construction apply to this amplifier. The parallel output devices should be matched for Vgs so that they share current well, and of course we note that all Mosfets are static sensitive until installed in the circuit, so they should be handled with reasonable care. Once in the circuit they are protected by D101 and D102. Heat sinking for this amplifier is vital, and should be enough that the metal on which the transistors are mounted is at 65 deg C or less, and the fins should be at 55 deg C or less. If they are higher, you need to consider ventilation, fans, and/or lower bias current. The diode bridge for the power supply should also be mounted on metal for heat sinking, and Q203 is best provided with some sort of “push-on-tab” heat sink. The power transformer should be rated at 600 VA or more. Two channels of this amp will may draw as much as 300 watts, and we allow at least a 2 to 1 transformer margin. Safety first: Use the smallest value Slow-Blow type fuse that holds up under continuous operation. Start with a 3A value and increase to 4 or 5A if necessary. More Safety first: The chassis must be solidly grounded to the AC earth ground and should be attached to the analog circuit ground either directly, or through power thermistors or diode bridges if it is necessary to prevent ground loop noise issues. When the amplifier is first fired up, it is best done without a load. At a minimum you will need a DC multimeter so as to separately adjust the DC offset figures of the front end and the output stage. The most important things to do before applying power to the circuit are to set the potentiometers to “safe” settings. This means that P201 and P102 should be set at their “middle” positions, and that P101 should be set for maximum resistance. You can use a multimeter to confirm that P101 is at maximum – at one extreme you will measure 0 ohms or so across the potentiometer, and at the other extreme several K ohms. Set it at the maximum resistance extreme. It is very useful to apply power using a Variac ™ to raise the AC power voltage while checking the current draw of the circuit. It is important to monitor the voltage across the 1 ohm Source resistors of the output devices for current, and also to check across R210 and R211 for excessive voltage. It's best to initially do this with one channel connected to the power supply at a time, and it's also best to do this at low AC power voltages, rechecking at increased voltage. When you get to the point where full power is applied and there is low current draw by the output stage, that is a good sign. Set P201 to adjust the Drain voltage of Q203 to approximately 0 volts. This value is not critical, as it is isolated from the output in any case. Then you want to adjust the DC output of the amplifier using P102, again setting it to about 0 volts. You will be adjusting it again later, after you bias the output stage. Use multimeter to confirm the various voltages which are shown in the schematics to confirm that they are nominally close to those values. You will want to keep an eye on the amplifier as it warms up, and you will end up re-adjusting the values of the potentiometers. The amplifier prototype I built biased the output stage at 250 mA per output device, which measures as 250 mV across each of the 1 ohm Source resistors on the output stage. You will want to gently adjust P101 to this figure while watching the voltage across one of the 1 ohm resistors. When you reach that figure, use the multimeter to confirm a close value across all the 1 ohm output stage resistors. This figure will wander upwards as the output stage warms up, but it should stabilize nicely at some higher value. Watch this carefully and periodically readjust P101 to maintain the 250 mV bias figure until it stabilizes. Come back later and be prepared to adjust it again. The bias current figure is not set in stone. If you have lots of heat sink, feel free to set the bias at a higher figure. The 250 mA setting results in dissipation of about 6 watts per transistor for the output stage shown. If you have lots of heat sinking, you could consider twice as much bias, for 3 amps of bias per channel. This would be about 300 watts per chassis, The maximum this power supply and chassis could ever be expected to work with. The decision comes down to heat. Heat sinks should stabilize at a temperature at which you can put your hand on the heat sinks fins for about 5 seconds. This is between 50 and 55 deg C, and is the ideal figure. As mentioned before, you should consider better ventilation or less bias if the heat is much greater. You have other options as well. You can choose to use fewer devices than the output stage shown here. For example, if you chose to use 3 pairs of power Mosfets instead of 6, you could double the bias on each one for 12 watts with the same overall dissipation. Remember that the 6 pairs in this design simply reflected what was in the chassis given away at Burning Amp. Some other units had 4 pairs of devices per channel. For fewer output pairs, consider using proportionally lower values of Source resistors on the power Mosfets. For example, with 2 pairs, 0.33 ohm might be a better choice than 1 ohm. Unlike the single-ended output stage of BA-1, the push-pull output stage in BA-2 can be biased at lower current values and still achieve the same maximum output power. Of course it will do so by falling into Class B (also thought of as AB), but this certainly is preferred to clipping. In any case, you have a great deal of flexibility with regards to power and bias with this output stage that you do not have with a single-ended Class A circuit, where the maximum peak output current is the same value as the bias current. It could be argued that the single-ended Class A is more sonically pure. If all you want to do is drive 8 ohms or greater, than that might be the case. Like the BA-1, the measured performance of both stages together is comparable to that of just the follower output stage. Here is the distortion vs power at 1 Khz into 8 ohms: Here is the distortion vs. power at 1 Khz into 4 ohms: Here is the distortion vs. power at 1 Khz into 2 ohms: Clearly the BA-2 has far more capacity into low impedance loads than BA-1. Here is the amplifier frequency response curve at 1 watt: And here is the distortion vs. frequency: This figure deserves some discussion, as it illustrates the notorious “IR P channel problem” in which the transconductance of the International Rectifier P channel Mosfets exhibit a shelving in the midband. For complementary followers, this shows up as increased second harmonic about about 200 Hz, leveling off around 1 Khz. Is this really a problem? Perhaps it is if you judge by specs, but I have not heard actual complaints from listeners, probably because second harmonic is relatively inoffensive. Here is what the distortion waveform looks like: There are three common cures to this: Use different P channel Mosfets – this problem is specific to IR P channel parts. Place the output stage in a feedback loop to correct it. Use these circuits in balanced output stages, where the second harmonic will cancel. Correcting this issue with one or more of the above will reduce the mid to high frequency distortion by about half or more, depending on which cures you pick. Or you can say, “My, that lovely second harmonic certainly warms up the midrange on cold winter nights.” Under “miscellaneous”, the measured damping factor of the amplifier came in at about 50 (an output impedance of 0.16 ohms). The noise was about 100 uV at the output, and the balanced input Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR) was about -50 dB. The sonic signature of this sort of circuit is familiar to me after many years of playing with variations on it. It's noted for a warm characteristic and a slightly soft top end. Both the BA-1 and BA-2 have a lineage that goes back to the A75 amplifier from 1992, and they sound a bit like it. The BA-1 is a little better sonically at low power levels, but is not as capable of being scaled to higher power levels or driving low impedance loads. By contrast the BA-2 can be biased at lower levels if necessary, and can drive low impedance loads without burping. The BA-2 is a little bit softer at the top, and the BA-1 has a tad more detail at the top. Both sound very good, and if you spend enough time with them, the warmth and soft top end might tend to spoil you for other solid state pieces, so if you have a lot of money invested in the L word, or the K word, or the H word, maybe it's best not to know. Before publication, I have received several requests for clarification and expansion: It's obvious that for the follower designs we can create a front end independent of the main amplifier. As the quarters are tight in the BA chassis, this is a good idea, as it will allow placement away from the noisy power supply and give us considerable flexibility in switching out different circuits without having to take the amp apart. As I said, most of the BA designs will be followers without feedback, so you should feel free to go this route. Variac refers to these as BAGS. I forget why. The gain of this front end is set at about X 6, or 15 dB. You can have higher gain simply by changing R203 and R204 to higher values. You can double the gain (to about 20 dB) by increasing these to 100 Kohm, and you can push it to 150 Kohm (about 23 dB) without changing the compensation capacitors. Any more and we might have to apply for a THX sticker. * You can certainly build this amplifier with fewer output devices as mentioned earlier. It will alter the spectral balance slightly – more outputs tends to put a little more emphasis on the bottom end, and fewer tends to brighten the top. At least this is how you will tend to perceive it. I leave it to you to try this if you like, but I think the direction you would want to go is 2-3 pairs, as we already have overkill with 4. I have shown a recommended value for the output stage bias at 250 mA / device which is only about 6 watts per device with a +/-25 volt supply. If you have enough heat sinking, you can consider as high as 30 watts per device, allowing the reliable use of fewer devices. If you decide to higher, remember that Mosfets are better at higher current until they catch fire and fulfill the promise of the amplifier's name. The supply voltage range is limited by the voltage ratings of the front end Jfets. 35 volts is about as far as you dare go, and 30 volts is the recommended maximum. Any more and you will have to cascode the P channel devices (not so difficult) and increase the value of R205 to 15 or 20 Kohms, otherwise it should work fine. Less than 18 volts is really not recommended as it starts taking too much out of the circuit's performance (in my humble opinion). Regulating the supply is a perfectly good idea, and will lower the noise figure slightly. I recommend some nice big capacitors to ground after the regulators to help avoid interaction between the amplifier and regulator circuits. And yes, there are capacitors in the circuit. One is even employed to form the dreaded bootstrap on the voltage gain stage. As always, you are invited to share your experiences at www.diyaudio.com. * that's a joke - I say that's a joke, son... ** Not a joke. To receive latest Pass DIY news and information, please register below. Copyright © 2016 Pass Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved
- +27 41 966 1441 - PO Box 583 Blaauwkrantz Safaris is a world-class trophy hunting outfitter, founded in 1978, it is owned and operated by us, the Arthur Rudman Family. We are located in the malaria-free Eastern Cape, South Africa. Operating from our magnificent and vast, single-unit 92 000 acre family ranch, the largest of its kind in South Africa. Our hunting lodge is only a 45-minute drive from the Port Elizabeth Airport. We offer hunters, couples, hunting families, safari groups and the trophy collector, a high standard of trophy quality, exceptional hunting experience, family hospitality along with passionate, experienced and enthusiastic staff, personal service and delicious cuisine. Thanks to stable politics and a good safety record, family hunting safaris in South Africa has become a trend. Keep in mind the old adage, ‘ the family who play together, stay together’. We have been hosting international clients on trophy hunting safaris for 36 years. Not only are we well represented in the SCI Record Book for our excellent kudu hunting, but numerous Wetherby award winners have also chosen us as their hunting safari destination. Specializing in the Eastern Cape species, we offer over 44 species for your African hunt. Non-hunters are welcome to join the hunting safari party while on their African hunt or there are plenty of non-hunter activities in the area. Our hunting lodge is the perfect place to relax and unwind. Enquire with us or Sign-Up Now for our Newsletter for further information regarding your African hunt, we look forward to guiding you on an unforgettable hunting safari. Map : Africa, South Africa, Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth Clients are accommodated in our spacious and comfortable ranch style Blaauwkrantz lodge. Our lodge has 7 ensuite bedrooms and is WIFI equipped. Clients enjoy fine South Africa wines and local venison, lamb and beef. Hunter groups consisting of four or more hunters can enjoy the exclusivity of our large ranch homestead lodge and hunting areas. Our lodge, with its unique African atmosphere, has 3 lounging areas, dining & barbecue area, deck, pool & bar. We can accommodate a group of 12 at a given time. We do have cell phone reception in most areas and triband cell phones will work in South Africa. Alternatively clients can hire a South African cell phone to keep in contact with their family. There is also the option for the client to hire a satellite phone and take it with them on safari. Electricity is 220V, and we recommend that clients bring an international converter adapter with them. A laundry service is available from Monday – Friday. We also offer our newly renovation 'Leopard Lodge' this is a 3 bedroomed lodge, without electricity, situated at the foot of the mountain range on Blaauwkrantz. A rustic getaway spot for our clients interested in some of the species sought in the area and for peace and quiet. Clients hunting the mountain species (Vaal Rhebuck, Mountain Reedbuck, Bontebok) are accommodated in the beautiful 1910 Springvale Mountain Lodge, hosted by Zani and Philip, which also has electricity and en suite Mountain Lodge, hosted by Zani and Philip, which also has electricity and en suite bathrooms. African Bushveld Special 6 Days and 6 Nights 5 species: East Cape Kudu, Impala, Brown Bush Duiker (free) Choose 2: Cape Bushbuck, Blesbuck, Springbuck or Warthog Price: $5 000 (1x1) (plus $260 VAT) $4 400 (2x1) (plus $170 VAT) (trophy fees and daily rates included in package price) 7 Days & 7 Nights 7 Species: East Cape Kudu, Impala, Brown Bush Duiker (free), Blesbuck Choose 1: Bushbuck or Springbuck Choose 2: Gemsbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest or Red Hartebeest Price: $7 900 (1x1) (plus $230 VAT) $7 200 (2x1) (plus $130 VAT) (trophy fees and daily rates included in package price) Father & Son 6 Days & 7 Nights 12 Animals: 1 Kudu, 1 Blesbuck, 2 Impala, 2 Duikers, 1 Warthog (non-trophy) & 5 Kudu / Impala Females Price: $5000 (2x1 for both) (plus $157 VAT) (September/October) $5600 (plus $240 VAT) (April - August) $5500 (if son is 18 yr and older) (plus $227 VAT) (September/October) $6100 (if son is 18 yr and older) (plus $310 VAT) (April - August) 6 Days & 6 Nights 3 Trophies: Kudu, Nyala & Bushbuck Price: $6600 (1x1) (plus $266 VAT) Prices subject to change without prior notice. The package price includes: Trophies as listed for package and daily rates. Trophy shot first will be trophy included in package. 1x1 services of professional hunter and tracker / skinner. Pick up and drop off at Port Elizabeth airport. Accommodation, meals and laundry. Field preparation of trophies & hunting licenses. All land transportation, vehicle and fuel (hunting vehicles). The package price does not include: Firearm rentals at $30/day and $3/bullett. Dip & Pack of trophies - $100/trophy. Gratuities for Professional Hunter, Tracker and Camp Staff. A charge of $200 per person per day will be levied for an extra night spent that is not included in the package. VAT tax listed - Black Wildebeest , Blesbok - Common, Blue Wildebeest, Bontebok, Duiker (Common, Grey), Impala, Springbok - Common Non-hunters are to pack dark khaki / camouflage clothing if they will be joining the hunting party. Day trips can be arranged for: Most of our non-hunters go a day trip to the Addo National Elephant Park & Schotia Game Reserve, a tour guide collects you at our lodge at +-9am. The day is started off with a game drive in Addo, which is only 40 minutes drive from our lodge. Addo was established in 1931 to save the Eastern Cape Elephant and Cape Buffalo from extinction. Addo is now over 250 000 acres and home to over 400 elephants and offers an unbeatable opportunity to view these amazing giants of Africa. Addo is also home to a large variety of birds (185 species), the black rhino, a numerous variety of buck species as well as the unique flightless dung beetle. After Addo, lunch is served at a nearby restaurant and then the tour proceeds to Schotia Game Reserve about 15 minutes from Addo, here the Big 5 can be viewed in open vehicles on an afternoon & early evening game drive. A traditional supper is served around a bon fire in camp. The tour guide drops you off at our lodge at about 9pm. Elephant Back Safari in the Addo Elephant Park. Ziplining, Big Swing & Canoeing on the banks of the Sunday's River at Adrenalin Addo. Guided Bush Walks where you will hear all about the interesting bush plants, including their ecology, folklore and medicinal value. Shopping in Port Elizabeth. Visit the beautiful gardens in the nearby Sundays River Valley. Scuba Diving in the Port Elizabeth Bay. Visit Cheetah & Lion Breeding Sanctuaries. Visit a Reptle & Raptor Center. Visit nearby Winelands Citrus Packhouse tours in the nearby Sundays River Valley The historical town of Graaff-Reinet, 1.5 hours drive from the lodge, is situated in the middle of the Karoo Nature Reserve, and was found in 1786. You will find over 300 national monuments in Graaff-Reinet, which is more than you'll find in any other town in South Africa Enjoy a breathtaking part of The Garden Route, where you can see mountains, indigenous forests, deep gorges, coastline of cliffs and sandy beaches. You can also view ancient yellowwood trees, fynbos plants and birdlife. Port Elizabeth is in Algoa Bay and every year whales are familiar sights along the coastline which is not to be missed, sightings include the Southern Right whale, which mates and calves between July and October each year in the sheltered Algoa Bay. The historic town of Grahamstown where, the annual arts festival attracts a wide South African and international audience. This is the home of the Xhosa people whose culture and colourful beadwork is of great interest. Do a full day tour of the battlefields where wars were fought between the 18th & 19th century between the British & Colonial forces and Xhosa warriors on the other. One of the biggest amusement parks in Port Elizabeth is the Boardwalk. Lots of fascinating sights to see, but the main one will probably be the casino. In the boardwalk there is also a games room, shops and restaurants. After sun set the city transforms into a sea of lights and a variety of nightlife. Evening entertainment includes beachfront pubs and cocktail bars. Deep Sea fishing - Apart from hunting, Blaauwkrantz Safaris offers deep-sea fishing for Yellowfin tuna. Fish between 10-85kg (20-200lbs) are the norm. There are also plenty of other game fish including Skipjack / Bonito, Dorado and even Marlin. Fishing is done at a 30-40 miles drop-off, off the continental shelf. Heavy or light tackle can be used for fishing, the choice is yours. April - July are the months when these fish are around. For those who would like to do bottom fishing, surf fishing, bass fishing or back-line trawling for Salmon and Garrick off an inflatable, is a light tackle challenge not to be missed. Limited bird hunting is available during certain times of the year. We have two beachfront condos along the main beaches of Port Elizabeth, these may be made use of as pre or post safari accommodation. They are situated within walking distance of top restaurants, beaches, shopping and entertainment. What most couples or families do to complete your safari experience, we can recommend good tour guides to take our clients PO Box 583 Tel: +27 41 966 1441 Fax: +27 41 991 0456 Cell: +27 83 280 1335/8
How to Cook Dried Beans and Freeze Them for Later Beans, beans, the musical … I’ll stop now. Ahem … I’m an adult. Right. Hello! How are you? Do you love beans? Beans as a main, beans as a side, beans in chili, beans in everything? Me too! They’re a vegetarian’s best friend, but they’re everyone’s best friend, too. Chock full of satiating protein and filling fiber … beans are good stuff. Most recipes these days call for beans by the 15-ounce can, but it really pains me to pay for canned beans when I know that I can save a ton of money by buying dried beans, cooking them at home myself, and freezing them for later. It makes me feel all virtuous when I grab a 2-cup bag of beans from the freezer instead of opening a can that cost me way more. How much money will I save by doing this, you ask? A ton! Do you get excited when you find your favorite brand of shoes (in the color you want! and your size!!) for 60% off? Me too! So I love cooking my own dried beans from scratch, because when I do it this way, I save about 55-60% over buying canned. And that’s a conservative estimate. I had a whole paragraph about the math, but it was way too crazy involved. In a nutshell: If you prepare a pound of pinto beans that cost you $1.99, it should equate to paying about 65 cents per 15-ounce can. A great deal, right?! You might also wonder: Will my beans taste better? Well, honestly, I go back and forth on this. They don’t necessarily taste better than canned, but there’s something … fresher … about beans prepared at home. Of course, that could be all in my mind. Plus, you control the sodium content, which is nice. If you’re new to the cooking beans game, you might be thinking, “dude, this is not worth all the work!” Well, I promise it’s not much hands-on – maybe 20 minutes total. And once you get a rhythm down, you’ll be whizzing through the process – the perfect side-project for a weekend day or when you have half a day or so to just putter around the house. Okay! Let’s do this! There are five steps to cooking dried beans and freezing them for later. - Get prepped - Rinse and sort through the dried beans - Soak your beans - Cook your beans - Bag and freeze Here’s the breakdown: To get started, you’ll need: - Time. Cooking dried beans takes some time from beginning to end, but most of that is hands-off. Depending on your soaking method (more about that below), you want to plan ahead. For the overnight process, you’re looking at about 12 hours from beginning to end. Quick soak, more like three. I usually reserve the bean-cooking for when I know I’m going to be hanging at home for much of the day. - Dried beans. You can buy them by the bag at most grocery stores, or I like to grab organic beans from the bulk section of well-stocked grocery stores like Whole Foods. I most often stock up on common varieties like black beans, white navy beans, cannellinis, red kidney beans, and pinto beans. - A large pot. I cook two pounds of beans at a time in a 7 1/4 quart pot, and it’s just barely big enough. - A large colander or large sturdy sieve. Small holes (smaller than your beans!) and as roomy as possible. - Freezer bags and a sharpie. Because nothing’s worse than mystery freezer food that’s not labeled! Rinse and sort through the dried beans Put the beans in a large colander, a few at a time, and pick through them. See any weird bits and pieces? Discard them. It doesn’t happen all the time, but debris like rock or clumps of dirt can definitely be present, so inspect those beans carefully! Also discard badly broken beans or shriveled bits while you’re at it. Rinse, swish, and look through them again. I then flick them into the soaking and cooking pot, a few at a time, checking the beans carefully one last time. A little insurance that I didn’t miss anything. Soak your beans First off, a question that’s often asked: Do I need to soak my beans? My answer is yes! That is, unless you want righteous gas (hey, sometimes it’s important to be blunt.) Soaking the beans (and then discarding that gas-laden soaking water) helps get rid of flatulence-causing compounds. Plus, especially with harder beans, it helps them to cook faster. Both good reasons to soak those beans! So how do you soak them? Let me count the ways. Okay, there are two. They both start with placing the rinsed and sorted beans into the pot and then filling the pot with water to about two inches above the beans. And then choose your soaking method: I usually do an overnight soak – it’s just less fussy to fill the bean-filled pot with water and let it sit overnight. Then all you do is drain, rinse, and cook. As the name indicates, this is a faster way to soak your beans. Place your beans and water on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. remove the pot from heat and cover. Let sit for 1 hour then proceed. Cook your beans Drain the soaking water, rinse and swish the soaked beans, and drain again. I use the colander or sieve for this. And now it’s time to cook! Add fresh water to the pot of soaked beans, to about two inches above the top of the beans. I don’t season the beans. I used to add a hefty pinch of salt and a glug of olive oil which gave the beans great flavor, but they would cook up mushier. I didn’t like that. So now I just go for straight-up beans – maybe a bay leaf if I’m feeling fancy. Strangely, the common thought is that salt will make the beans tough, but I didn’t experience that. Just mushiness. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, give the beans a stir and reduce the heat to right around medium-low until you find the right temp to maintain a simmer. Cover beans, leaving the lid partially askew to help a bit of the steam to escape. Cook the beans for anywhere from 30 – 60 minutes or possibly even more, depending on how tough your variety is, until tender. Depending on the type of bean, they may cook fast (such as navy beans) or they may take longer (such as kidney beans). A special note on kidney beans, by the way: Make sure they’re cooked through! Raw and undercooked kidney beans contain a toxin that can cause gastric issues, so cook them well! My favorite way to tell the beans are done? Use a slotted spoon to scoop a few out and blow on the beans. If the skin peels and curls up, your beans should be cooked. Try one to be sure! Once the beans are cooked, uncover them and remove them from the heat. Let them cool. Freeze and bag your beans Once cool, drain the cooking water from the beans. Some people like saving the bean broth for other uses like soups. Label several freezer-safe zipper bags with a permanent marker like a Sharpie – I list the variety, quantity, and date. I then set the bag in a small bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup and measure the beans into each by the cupful. I freeze in two-cup increments – roughly the same amount as a can of beans – so I can do the one-for-one thing when cooking up recipes. One bag = one can. Okay! You’re done! Now transfer your beans to the freezer, and you’re all set. They should keep up to six months. I pull the beans out of the freezer and add them to hot recipes – like chili or beans and rice – frozen, right out of the bag. But for recipes where I need to start with thawed beans, I’ll pull them out the night before and let them thaw in the fridge, or place the sealed bag in a large bowl of warm water to quick-thaw. I’ve cooked beans plenty enough to feel confident writing this post, but I wanted to be sure I was right, so I fact-checked at these two sites (which, by the way, are great references if you want to learn more): The Bean Institute and Whole Foods Food Guide for Beans Save money and sodium! Cook your own beans at home. October 3, 2015 – I’ve just added a star rating system to this recipe so if you have tried it, please be sure to rate it to let others know how you like it – 5 if you love it, 1 if you don’t (but hopefully you love it!) Just click on the stars below the “Print Recipe” button above. Thank you! How to Cook Dried Beans and Freeze Them For Later NEW RECIPE RATINGS: Save money and sodium! Cook your own beans at home. October 3, 2015 – I’ve just added a star rating system to this recipe so if you have tried it, please be sure to rate it to let others know how you like it – 5 if you love it, 1 if you don’t (but hopefully you love it!) Just click on the stars below the “Print Recipe” button above. Thank you!
You have several rental properties with wood burning fireplaces. You have some concerns though because of tenants having a live wood fire. The thought of an unattended fireplace and your apartment building going up in smoke worries you. Is there a better way? You do always have the choice of just covering the fireplace over or blocking it. But it is a useful renting point when looking for new tenants. So, another option would be to have installed a gas fireplace insert. You would still have the appearance without the danger of someone accidentally burning down your building. Also, there are other advantages to gas fireplaces. A fireplace which takes wood can take some work to get the fire going correctly which can be a danger with an unskilled tenant doing this. With a gas fireplace insert though, a flick of the switch and the fire is lit. Also, with a wood burning fireplace, you have burned-out logs and ashes which need to be cleaned out; and if thrown away without being cooling, this is a fire danger. This wood burning creates soot which leaves creosote in the chimney too which needs to be removed by a chimney cleaner. If you don’t have it removed, it can cause a chimney fire. With a gas insert, there aren’t all of these problems. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a professional check it out once a year or so. Cost of an insert The cost of an insert cost about $3000 to $4000, depending on the size, which includes the installation of the insert and the liner for the chimney. It will heat an area of between 1,000 to 3,000 square feet which depends on the size of the insert. You will need to talk to a gas fireplace insert dealer to decide what size you need and the heating capacity of the insert you want for the apartment. Wood burning fireplaces have the snap, crackle and pop of a fire. However, gas fireplace inserts are more convenient and safer. When you think of neutrals, you may think of white, off white, beige and tan. However, for this year, neutrals are a shade different. If you’re thinking of repainting your rental property, multi-family dwelling or apartment building, you need to check out the new shades. One of the new neutral shades which are so popular is called Greenery. It’s a bright yellow-green which can make a person think about foliage, rejuvenation and fresh starts. This bright mix is perfect for rental units because tenants who move in are starting over. This shade of green can be used with other colors for different looks. It also can be used as accents or the base of other color schemes. Also, some other neutrals are getting warmer. These colors range from creams to browns to beiges. With the tones of various shades of these base colors, other colors can be brought in to brighten up a room. Another interesting hue is blush pink. It can work be paired with different shades of browns, creams, and grays for a unique look. The color camel is a neutral tint which adds a richness to space it’s used. It could be mixed with an assortment of various textiles, woods and leathers. Camel can add refinement and elegance to an area. What about clashing? With the softer color palette, it blends nicely with the geometric shapes, patterns, and textures. When you paint one of your properties with one of these quieter colors, it will give your tenants something to work with instead of the same old white walls. Be bold, be different and add a little pizzazz and soft color to your walls. You may be surprised at the quality of tenant you bring into your rental properties just by changing the hue of paint on your walls. A roof is made up of at least four layers. These layers consist of insulation, a waterproof membrane, some type of roof adhesive and the materials that make up the roof like plywood and shingles. So why bother doing a roof coating to the roof of your rental unit? The reasons are listed below: - It costs less to restore a roof: If you have to replace a complete roof, it’s expensive in materials and in labor. Depending upon what roofing you choose for your multi-family dwelling, it can cost between $18 to $20 a square foot on average to reroof. But if you restore your roof, it requires less in materials and less labor. This would cost about $6 to $9 a square foot on average. - You can extend your roof’s life by restoration: Restoration can add about 10 to 15 years onto the life of your roof. A commercial roof lasts about 20 years so if you restore it, you can make future plans for replacement in your upcoming budget then. - It’s more sustainable to restore: Because you’re reusing your existing roof where you can, restoration is a much friendlier environmental option. It helps to keep roofing waste out of landfills which you pay to haul away additionally. As another bonus too, it will make your building much more energy efficient and could help you to qualify for LEED Certification or ENERGY STAR credits. - Catastrophic loss can be prevented with restoration: Your roof will only get worse if it’s ignored. The potential for damage and the cost to restore it will only rise as time goes by, along with the damage a bad roof can do to your rental property. So, if the roof isn’t dealt with in a timely way, the only option will then be for total replacement of the roof and perhaps extensive repairs to the interior of your rental property. The damage you deal with also may be from a pest invasion of insects and rodents because they have been given access ways into the dwelling place because of property deterioration. All of this can put your tenants and business at risk. Having your roof checked by a professional roofing contractor is the smart thing to do. Sometimes on your roof shingles, algae and moss which appear as dark streaks will form because there isn’t enough natural light. A lot of homeowners may think that this is weathering and that the roof will need to be replaced. However, your roof may just need a good cleaning. Also, when there is an alga or moss build up, besides the roof damage this can cause, this can cause the roof to retain heat. This means that it will cost more to run your air conditioner to cool down your home. So when you have your roof professionally cleaned it will save money and save your shingles. Hire a pro There are three factors which weigh-in which will determine how much it will cost to clean your roof. How much time it will take is one. The size of your roof and how much algae and moss is present are others. Additionally, the reputable contractor you use should adhere to the techniques for the removal of algae and moss of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association and Roof Cleaning Institute of America. The RCIA also recommends that professional roofing contractors use the soft washing process. This process helps to prevent damage to the roof. The cost of a roof cleaning A typical roof cleaning usually takes two to five hours. The cost of doing this can range from $250 to $1,000 for an average home. This is approximately 5% of what it would cost for a roof replacement at the low end of the cost for cleaning given. If you’re thinking that you’d save money by cleaning the roof yourself, you may want to think twice about it though. A DIY roof cleaning kit which you can buy at a local hardware store may hasten the deterioration of your roof. Most of the DIY products contain a chemical which can harm shingles which are petroleum based. In addition, you just pressure washing it without the right skills can damage the roof. It’s also advisable that you choose a company that carries Workers’ Compensation Insurance. This would cover any injuries to workers. Make sure liability insurance is additionally carried by the contractor to cover any accidental property damage. It’s advisable to ask the contractor if there is a warranty or any kind of guarantee on the roof cleaning too. Roof cleaning is done best by the professionals. When you own multi-family dwellings, there comes a time when repairs need to be attended to because some tenants can be hard on your property and leave a mess when they move out. In other instances, it’s just time to replace or improve somethings in a rental unit. So below are some suggestions which may be helpful to you: - The floor: Of everything in your rental property, the floors are what really take a beating. This is because the floors take the most wear and tear from tenants moving in and out. If you have carpet in your unit and its worn out, consider having it replaced with something that is more durable and easy to clean. This could be linoleum, commercial grade tile or hardwood. This type of flooring does cost more upfront, but it also can last up to 20-30 years, unlike carpet. - Remodeling: When you’re remodeling or having the rental unit remodeled by a professional construction company, only remodel one unit at a time. You want to do things slowly and not go into debt over renovations if this can be helped. Also, if you remodel in smaller stages, then you can rent the remainder of your units while you’re remodeling the one that needs it the most first. - Invest in energy efficient appliances: When redoing bathrooms in your property, have low flush toilets installed. These toilets save on the monthly water bill by using less water. In addition, replace shower heads with water efficient ones as well which also lowers energy costs for heated water. Energy efficient appliances too are a good investment. These not only save on energy, but increases rental appeal. - Remodel areas that will get you more for your money: Because you own property, the return on your investment is always a prime concern. Now some of the improvements that will do this are updated hardware and lighting fixtures. These can change the look of a unit additionally with very little monetary investment. Also, giving the walls a fresh coat of paint every five years can do a lot to improve a dwelling place’s appearance. Making well thought out improvements on your property can be a smart way to make money. Everyone wants to find ways to cut back on their heating and cooling bills such as landlords who own multi-family dwellings. By finding ways to make a roof more energy efficient though, this goes a long way in helping to achieve that goal. So below are some energy efficient roofing solutions which may work for you. - If your roof is dark: If your roof is dark in color, it can increase the temperature in your home or rental property considerably. On a hot day, an asphalt roof which is dark colored can reach temperatures of between 150-175 degrees F. This forces any air conditioner in the building to work harder and use more energy when doing this. If the roof is a light-colored roof, however, it can be 50-60 degrees cooler on a roof than its dark counterpart. So one option to make your roof cooler if you don’t want to replace a dark colored roof is to have a contractor apply what’s called a cool roof coating. But if you’ve already considering re-roofing, then you can just go with a lighter color of shingles. - Insulate your roof: Most people remember to insulate the attic, but forget about insulating the roof. Now if your roof is insulated poorly, your property will use more air conditioning in the summer to keep the house cool. It will also take more heat in the winter to keep the building warm so you should insulate your roof correctly. Because a roof that’s well insulated by using the right insulation product will drastically help to reduce both your heating and cooling bills. Depending upon where you live will determine what’s the right type of insulation that you’ll need. - Choosing the right roofing materials: What is the right type of roofing material that’s needed is determined by what type of building you’re roofing. Plus, the climate is a factor. So wood shingles for a roof in a wet climate will be problematic. while hot dry climates may preclude other roofs for energy efficiency. Whatever type of roofing you and your contractor decide upon, reflective coating being applied may be a good idea depending on what your contractor believes is suitable. When choosing the right roofing materials, whether you’re just doing a coating; or a re-roofing job, it always helps to talk to a professional contractor first who has good references and the experience. There are different styles of siding that can be used on buildings. The choices are many, and it depends upon what look you want to have for your building. It also depends on how much you want to invest. So below are some different types of siding with their descriptions which can be used on multi-family dwellings. Wood: Wood was the most commonly used type of siding for many years. Even with the new types of siding out on the market, wood is still the traditional and most versatile choice. With this there are so many choices for wood siding such as clapboard, cedar shingles and wood from old barns, as examples. The bad part about wood is that it won’t resist fire very well, and over time it fades. Metal: Using metal for siding is something to consider. For one thing, it’s more fire resistant than wood and depending on where it’s sourced, it can be a green option. The most common type of metal used is corrugated aluminum, but steel types can be used as well. The downside is that metal siding dents, and if you use steel siding it rusts in salty environments. Vinyl: Vinyl siding is both durable and low maintenance, which is great for a multi-family dwelling. It comes is a variety of colors and different designs. It does cost more than some of the other materials, but it also has a long lifespan. It does have somewhat of a plastic appearance though when the siding is the less expensive kind of vinyl design. Clapboard: This type of siding is also known as lap or bevel siding and is in the wood class. It uses planks of wood which are installed horizontally. One piece overlaps the other one. It’s a common style and comes in variations such as beaded and insulated. Regular clapboard has the simplest appearance. When deciding what type of siding to put on your rental property, consider all the options based on budget and the long haul. Outdated kitchens in your multi-family apartment building may very well appeal to the type of tenants that you want least. This is because when they see outdated they then think cheap and will want to pay less. And since the type of tenants that you want to live there will also think low quality and not rent there; what do you have left? Empty apartments or tenants who pay less. This is because one of the biggest decision makers on a rental deal is how the kitchen will fit in with potential renters’ needs. Too, if the kitchen is up-to-date and attractive, it can raise the rents as much as a $100 per month. So what are renters looking for in a kitchen? Well, below are some answers so that you can style your rental unit kitchens. - The cabinets: These are usually what tenants will look at first to see if they fit their needs for space. They also want to see cabinets that are functional and up-to-date? So you need to decide if the cabinets need sprucing up. Often here changing the hardware is all that is needed to give them a functional, modern look. A professional too can repair cabinets and make them look like new additionally. - The appliances: If you have old chipped stoves and rattling refrigerators, it may be time to replace them. So here, something a little more energy efficient and nice looking is a better bargain in the long run than hanging onto the old appliances just because they still work. - Countertops: Are the countertops dingy? Are they chipped and scratched? Do they have a modern feel? If so, you may want to hire a contractor to come in and do a little fixing up. Now here, you want to choose material that can withstand wear and tear. Also choose a darker color countertop which will look cleaner and blend in any stains that will come about. - Paint: When tenants move out, it’s time to repaint. This is because food byproducts in steam and splattered cooking oils can build up on the walls and kitchen cabinets. This can create a dingy appearance as well as leave an “old grease” look. So a new coat of paint in the kitchen especially can change all that and make the apartment look fresh and appealing. You might want to touch up with stain if needed too. In the end updating the kitchens in your apartment building can give you a higher amount of income. If you have a multi-rental apartment building and have a couple of bathtubs which have seen better days, they don’t necessarily have to be replaced. Because replacing a bathtub is expensive you can instead have the tubs re-surfaced by an experienced contractor for much less cost. You can have the old worn and scratched bathtubs re-glazed then, and they will look like new. Plus; there are a variety of colors to choose from when doing this, and the re-surfacing can last up to ten years. These are just a few reasons on the plus side to re-surface instead of re-placing tubs. More pluses are that by re-surfacing bathtubs, this gives a whole new look and feel to the bathroom. Too because of modern technology, the tubs will be more durable, and the actual process is not as time consuming as replacing the tubs. Also, the resurfacing process will save you money in the long run because it will protect you against further repairs. Now you might be tempted to do the process yourself to save even more money, but this really isn’t advisable unless you know what you’re doing. This is because re-surfacing a bathtub takes a lot of prep work and a lot of cleaning. Also the chemicals which are used to remove the old finish can be hazardous to your health if you don’t wear a respirator and mask; plus ventilating the room properly. It would cause your tenant hardship too if there is only one bathroom in an apartment, and it’s out of commission for a longer period of time because you do it yourself without the right training. If you hire a professional contractor; however, he or she would have the needed skills; the ventilation equipment, the cloths for the overspray; with the job would being completed within 4-6 hours. The tub would then be ready to go within 48 hours. If you have to remove the bathtub and install a new one there is downtime too; by the way, because caulking has to dry for at least a day, and the tub may have to be ordered which could take even longer. Hopefully, these tips were helpful. When purchasing a commercial space and planning on making it into a multi-family unit can be a bot overwhelming. However, the end result can be very profitable because the building is worth more when converted into an apartment building. This is especially true when the building is located in a business/financial district when there aren’t may rental properties. So what should you do first before you embark on a project of this magnitude? Below are some suggestions to help: First of all, conduct a study to see if this is a feasible project. If you understand what the local planning regulations are, then you can do this part yourself. You should also have a general idea of what the cost is going to be. Other questions to ask yourself are: Will the local authorities allow a change of use? As far as approved permits are concerned, what’s the precedent? Have nearby building been changed? If they have been, did it increase the value of the building? And finally, what kind of planning regulations could cause you an issue? After getting in touch with a real estate professional to evaluate roughly what the building would be worth if converted, consult the local authorities. This department may have requirement such as disabled access or residential parking. Checking beforehand can save you headaches. Next hire a contractor you trust to have the building thoroughly checked over. Get all the reports in writing after making sure they are detailed and signed. This way if you’re given bad advice, you have proof for a lawsuit if necessary. Hire an architect to design the inside plan after showing the reports mentioned above. Include any changes that the authorities wished to be made. Now is the time to get bids from professional contractors for estimates on labor and materials. Make sure that you have penalties built into the contract in case the work is not completed when promised. Check all credentials of whomever you hire. Submit your detailed plan to the proper authorities. Now you’re ready to begin!
Presenting the two directing prizes on Sunday night’s Tony Awards, Clint Eastwood, who was on the show because he has directed the film version of the Tony winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys (6/20), summed it all up for me. “It seems like producers and directors from the stage and from movies are always looking for good new material, and sometimes they don’t find it. Sometimes they have to take it from one another with The Bridges Of Madison Country (Eastwood starred in and directed the film) or Bullets Over Broadway going to musical plays, and I’m proud to say that we’re bringing Jersey Boys to the movies and that will be after nine successful years on Broadway,” he said in introductory remarks. It was an understatement as most of the evening’s winners, spread among a larger number of shows than usual, have deep ties to Hollywood and that included Bridges which picked up a couple of key Tonys for its composer Jason Robert Brown, despite closing last month. There’s also Rocky (Best Scenic Design of a Musical), Aladdin (Best Featured Actor in a Musical), as well as the two big musical winners of the evening (each with four victories), A Gentlemen’s Guide To Love And Murder (winner of Best Musical and which is derived from the 1949 Alec Guiness film Kind Hearts And Coronets), and Hedwig And The Angry Inch (winner of four including Best Revival of a Musical and which is making its Broadway debut after Off Broadway and a film version). Even A Raisin In The Sun, which took Best Revival Of A Play and two other awards, has been made twice into movies. The 2014 Tony Awards got things hopping (literally) with another tip of the hat to Hollywood, as host Hugh Jackman did a four-minute exhaustive opening number in which he hopped throughout Radio City Music Hall (an homage — acknowledged in a two second fleeting film clip — to Bobby Van’s memorable pogo-stick number in the not-too-well-known 1953 MGM musical Small Town Girl). And later there was indie movie maestro Harvey Weinstein smiling in the audience after Jennifer Hudson socked home a beautiful rendition of a song from his upcoming Broadway hopeful, a musical version of the film Finding Neverland. It will try out in Cambridge, Massachusettes, although this very high-profile tryout was pretty impressive on its own terms of seeing Hollywood influence creep into Broadway’s biggest night. My colleague Jeremy Gerard, who covers the New York theatre scene for Deadline, spoke to Weinsteinabout it earlier. And I brought it up with The Weinstein Company’s COO David Glasser who was on a Produced By panel called “Stage Presence: The Hollywood-Broadway Connection” that I was happy to moderate Sunday afternoon on the Warner Bros lot in Burbank. It also featured movie, Broadway, TV and Oscar show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, along with Endgame Entertainment Company Chairman and CEO James D. Stern who not only produces a lot of movies (An Education, Looper), he also is big on Broadway with numerous productions derived from movies like The Producers and Hairspray, both past Tony winners. The panel, which ended just as the Tonys were getting underway in NYC, was a lively one that played to a packed house as the finale of the two day conference presented by the Producers Guild Of America. It was perfect timing, although coincidental. And driving onto the lot, you couldn’t miss the giant billboard for Warners’ Jersey Boys, one of three major studio musicals hitting the screen this year including Sony’s Annie remake and Disney’s Into The Woods, both holiday releases. Warners also didn’t miss the opportunity to buy ad time during the Tony show to promote Jersey Boys in addition to the Eastwood appearance. It seemed quite appropriate to see the Hollywood/Broadway connection so vividly and prominently displayed Sunday on both coasts. And it’s no accident. As Stern said, it’s nothing new, but I do think it is becoming something of an epidemic. Broadway is really relying quite a bit on movies to sell tickets. And that’s not just in finding material for new shows, it’s also in keeping long-running shows going. Stern said it was the movie Chicago (the first musical to win a Best Picture Oscar in 34 years) which was released by Miramax in 2002 and executive produced by Zadan and Meron that really wiped away the stigma that a movie would kill business for a still-running Broadway show. Chicago‘s still playing eight shows a week and so are Phantom Of The Opera, Rock Of Ages, Mamma Mia! and others who have seen their film versions come and go. With DVDs and an afterlife on cable, they almost act as commercials for the live shows. Zadan said despite the success of Chicago, it was still hard to get big screen Broadway adapatations greenlit. “We did a tour of all the studios after that and they all praised the movie and what it did. But when we asked if they would have made the movie they all said ‘no’,” he said. Harvey Weinstein had it in development for several years before they were finally able to crack the code on how to make it (Rob Marshall directed and Bill Condon wrote the screenplay). He said it has never gotten easier, but they are long-distance runners in this field and always seem to find a way. The pair is now teaming again with Weinstein on a film version of last year’s Best Musical Revival Tony winner, Pippin, which like Chicago was originally directed on Broadway by Bob Fosse who revolutionalized movie musical Broadway transfers with his Oscar winning Cabaret in 1972. Glasser said they are just starting to develop it but that Zadan and Meron have good ideas on where to take it. Glasser talked about how much more difficult it can be to get a straight play produced as a movie these days. The Weinstein Company did it with August: Osage County last year, but it was a tricky proposition in getting a three and a half hour play down to two hours. Doubt was another recent example, although both starred Meryl Streep. It’s much harder without hugely bankable names like Streep or Julia Roberts. Zadan and Meron got A Raisin In The Sun produced on ABC in 2008 with its Broadway star Sean Combs. Straight plays used to be a staple of Hollywood fare but somewhere along the line that changed. Meron thinks the title as a way of pre-selling it is all-important. Perhaps that’s why a property like Annie keeps finding new life. The new film version starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz and Quvenzhane Wallis is the third time around including an ABC TV version directed by Marshall and produced by Zadan and Meron. In between have been successful Broadway revivals of the show so they all seem to feed off each other. The producing pair has also hit paydirt with live tv musicals after the smash , and surprising, ratings success of NBC’s The Sound Of Music last December starring Carrie Underwood. Peter Pan Live is next and network President Robert Greenblatt has also ordered up a new version of The Music Man (Greenblatt is a Broadway lover who was a producer on Gentlemen’s Guild To Love And Murder). Fox has ordered a live broadcast of Grease. These are ALL well known titles. In comparing the movie business to Broadway, Stern said unequivocally that staging a show is a much bigger financial risk. And you never know where the winners will come from. Before this year, the last two Best Musical Tony winners, Once and Kinky Boots, were derived from tiny independent Sundance movies. But Zadan says the rewards are obviously great. The biggest continuing financial success for Universal Pictures is not a movie, but rather a stage production of Wicked which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Broadway with a special performance on the Tonys Sunday. A film version is inevitable but still seems to be in its nascent stages. With the kind of money the show is pulling in around the world who needs to rush? Meron says every studio now has someone in charge of combing their vaults for material that could be turned into big Broadway shows. Of course Disney, whose latest hit is Aladdin, and who will be bringing Frozen the Great White Way eventually, has made it a cottage industry. And now they have just announced that Beauty And The Beast will become a live action film directed by Condon after first seeing life as an animated musical feature and then in a Broadway version. Zadan said he and Meron were criticized for all the musical numbers they put into the two Academy Awards broadcasts they have produced (they are signed for the 2015 show already). “Yet when you look at the ratings, the spike in audience was the biggest for those moments, over anything else on the shows,” he said. Ratings have in fact been up for both their shows. On their 2013 Oscar broadcast, they brought the entire cast of the Best Picture nominee Les Miserables on to sing from the stirring score, just like the Tonys did last night with the cast of the nominated revival of Les Mis. Further evidence of that Hollywood-Broadway connection. I suspect you can expect more next year, although the producers offered up no scoops quite yet. But with at least three big new movie musicals as likely contenders, don’t be surprised to be see more of that connection vividly showcased on the movies’ biggest night just like we saw on Broadway’s big moment in the spotlight Sunday. One questioner in the Produced By audience asked the panel if they expect episodic TV shows to become fodder for Broadway like The Walking Dead. I would actually like to see a different AMC show, Breaking Bad, turned into a big musical. After all, brand new Tony winner Bryan Cranston could even star. “I’m Gonna Wash That Meth Right Outta My Hair,” anyone?
\|Released by Warner Brothers \| Directed By Roy Del Ruth Proof That It’s Pre-Code - Virginia Bruce gets to model a stunning array of lingerie. - A trio of tailors fit Cagney for a suit and are very interesting in getting precise measurements of every inch of his body, and then giggling a bit afterward. - It’s a Cagney movie from the early 30s, so obviously a few naughty ladies are going to get smacked. Winner Take All: Audience Take Nap “The only thing I can’t stand is bad grammar coming from a perfect Grecian nose.” James Cagney’s pre-Code career is hit or miss, no doubt about it. His personality is one of both eager machismo and a sinister smile, while also having a deep cachet of emotional vulnerability to draw on, something that’s extraordinarily hard to fit into a screenplay. Winner Take All is probably one of the least successful attempts, giving Cagney a character to play a bit outside his normal range: here he’s a slow-witted boxer named Jimmy Kane who is both pushy and repulsive. Kane is Jake LaMotta in a 30s Warner Brothers flick, with all the good and bad that that entails. Condemned to a resort in New Mexico to dry out after some heart trouble (‘heart’ trouble almost certainly having a double meaning in terms of his bad luck with blondes), Jimmy Kane is out of his element for the first time in his life. A roughneck city boy, the country air and coyotes terrify him. That is until he meets Peggy, a single mom who used to be a waitress in a speakeasy where she’d run into Jimmy before. Now free from the hub and bub of city life, the two develop a sweet romance. He even takes a fight to help raise the money to further treat her kid, pretty much making him something akin to a dumb saint. Unfortunately, Jimmy has to head back to the city– a corrupting force here– and overnight forgets Peggy as a voluptuous society girl named Joan (Bruce) appears in his life. He decides to class himself up, going so far to getting plastic surgery to fix some of the uglier features he’d acquired from his profession. This proves to be an even bigger turn-off to Joan as he sacrifices his bracing boxing stance to protect his new schnoz, and no matter how forceful he is with Joan, she just can’t be worked up enough to care about him. This comes to a head as he fights for the championship while Joan is most certainly running away with another man. The only interesting character in the film has to be Virginia Bruce’s Joan, though it has to be said that it’s mostly because the film purposefully tricks the audience on several occasions to make her motivations murky. The character functions on two desires: attraction to Jimmy’s brawn and body while revulsion at his mental slowness. This attraction can flip at an instant, making her hard to read for the audience, let alone for Jimmy’s already confused brain– one moment she’s locking lips, the next she’s pushing him away with a devilish grin. Director Roy Del Ruth, who was also behind The Maltese Falcon, Blonde Crazy, and Beauty and the Boss, doesn’t mind messing with the audience when it comes to Joan either. Though she may welcome Jimmy and his new face into her fancy apartment with an embrace, once her friend shows up, she realizes that she’d rather antagonize him. Later, when Joan is late to the climactic bout, Del Ruth gives one cut to her that makes it look like she’s on her way– only to reveal a few moments later she’s actually running off to Havana while Jimmy is occupied. It feels desperate, and that’s not much of a surprise. There’s a definite attempt to graft this story of a poor dumb mug with an ego the size of Madison Square Garden onto Cagney’s usual tough guy, love-em-and-leave-em machismo with little success. While there are some scrambling attempts to meaningfulness, the end really doesn’t seem like a satisfying conclusion for anyone. Nixon is a non-entity, too pure to care about as a real person, with Dickie Moore as her son who is similarly too-twee to give two thoughts to. Guy Kibbee and Clarence Muse get a couple of nice moments as Jimmy’s promoter and manager, respectively, but not enough moments overall. The film has all of the hallmarks of what makes the Warner Brothers pictures of the time so exciting– the multiculturalism, the violence, the joy in challenging conventions– but lacks substance behind its madcap heart. And Cagney tries here, he really does, but Jimmy is such a lout, it’s hard to find much sympathy for him. There’s just nothing connecting his good pieces to his bad pieces, and hole in the center of the character. Overall, it’s just a waste of material. Hover over for controls. Trivia & Links - Cliff at Immortal Ephemera, as usual, goes way more into detail on this one, including finding historical sources about the fights the film’s bouts are based on. Check it out for a lot more info on the film and it’s history, as well as Cliff’s opinion of Cagney: While I didn’t particularly care for Jimmy Kane, Cagney is always a thrill to watch. His character may be dumbed-down, but Cagney is still quick with his comebacks. His footwork is all inside the boxing ring in this one and he probably sports as much make-up as he did in any film throughout his career, Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) included! I might not like Kane, but Cagney remains the reason to watch. - Mordaunt Hall’s original review is mixed, but kicks off with mentions of Public Enemy, Smart Money, Taxi, Blonde Crazy, and The Crowd Roars, which, you must remember, had all come out in the year leading up to this: After having been highly successful in his portrayals as a gangster, a gambler, a taxicab driver, a confidence man and an automobile racer, James Cagney, the stormy petrel of the Warner Brothers’ Studio, turns his attenion, in “Winner Take All,” the current picture at the Strand, to impersonating a prizefighter, who prefers blondes but marries a brunette. The story of this new film is more than slightly callous and one that depends chiefly for entertainment on its obstreperous comedy. - TCMDB talks about Cagney doing his own fighting in this one: Cagney trained for the role with a real-life boxer, former welterweight champion Harvey Parry, who has a role in the film. Cagney recalled in his autobiography that another professional fighter, watching him spar, was certain that Cagney had fought professionally – his footwork proved it. “I said, ‘Tommy, I’m a dancer. Moving around is no problem.'” - The Movie Morlocks looks at the film’s story’s origins: The script was adapted from a 1921 story originally published in Redbook magazine by Gerald Beaumont, “133 at 3″. One of the screenwriters was Wilson “Bill” Mizner, a true American character who was a playwright, opium addict and entrepreneur who was a co-owner of the Brown Derby restaurant. In his autobiography Cagney fondly remembers how story conferences turned into bull sessions. One time Cagney was complaining how the boxing scenes were ruining his hands. Bill responded by showing his, which “looked as if someone had battered them with a sledgehammer.” Cagney said, “In the name of God, Bill, how did you get those?” Mizner responded, “Oh, hitting whores up in Alaska.” Mizner would die soon after in 1933. Winner Take All has the feel of one of Mizner’s tall tales, though with a smidgen less misogyny. - Movie Classics is pretty down here, but points out this interesting note: I think both Nixon and Bruce give fine performances as the “good” and “bad” girls – interestingly, in this pre-code world, the “good” girl is a former waitress at a speakeasy, and the “bad” one is a society woman who won’t sleep with the hero. - Some great stills and even a few clips from Doctor Macro. - Vitaphone Varieties takes about one interesting moment in the film, a flashback to Peggy and Jimmy’s first meeting that happens at Texas Guinan’s– which contains the only known remaining footage of Queen of the Night Clubs. More on it: Utilized to introduce a brief flash-back depicting Marion Nixon as a speakeasy singer (she warbles a bit of “Was That the Human Thing to Do?” which dates from 1932 and not 1929, however) our glimpse of footage from “Queen of the Night Clubs” amounts to a scant 13 seconds or so of splendid looking but mute footage (the soundtrack has been replaced to accommodate a musical lead-in to Nixon’s little song) consisting of seven quick shots (six actually, with one being split into two) in which we see Texas Guinan holding reign above a festive crowd in her re-created nightclub (publicity items claimed the set was an exact duplication of her night-club’s main floor — which perhaps it was, albeit far more brightly lit and dramatically less smoke-filled!) as well as equally quick flashes of dancing girls, “Georgie” Raft leading the club’s band, and a glimpse of Arthur Housman at a table which dissolves into 1932’s “Winner Take All Footage.” To the credit of the 1932 film, more than a bit of care was taken in matching the new footage with the old, with props from the 1929 film (a tablecloth and lamp) being dug out to ensure a fairly seamless transition despite the sudden absence of ziggurat wall designs in the 1932 re-creation. - Mondo 70 reflects on Cagney’s pre-Code persona and what made him unique: Apart from Public Enemy, Cagney was mainly a comic figure in the Pre-Code era, a transgressor who gets away with what we wish we could — usually smacking the sort of people we wish we could. Again, it says something about the era that his victims so often include women (he gives his niteclub date in the flashback a face full of seltzer water), but it doesn’t look like many women objected back then. His violence was essential to his manhood, and Winner underscores this, stressing that it’s not merely the physical grace that Cagney was praised for later but his willingness to mix, to put his chin out, get as good as he gives, that defines him. Awards, Accolades & Availability Comment below or join our email subscription list on the sidebar!
In the fallout from the Scarlett Johansson imbroglio, there are lessons to be learned. First, that money trumps principles almost always. Johansson proved that. I’m not foolish enough to believe that a brilliant actress is a great humanitarian or lives her life by consistent values, but we all would like to think so, wouldn’t we? This scandal proves we are wrong. Johansson is human and frail as most of the rest of us. Unfortunately for her, she got herself enmeshed in a political controversy which will likely affect her career for years to come. I have seen her act so poignantly in so many films. But I can’t do it again. Nor will others, though I don’t know how many that will be. If BDS becomes as powerful an anti-Occupation weapon as it promises to be, there may be many of us. Another lesson is that BDS has become a powerful political tool in the struggle against Israeli oppression. In following the history of the BDS movement and the various Israeli responses to it, it’s followed something like the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) though I’ll change the terms slightly: first there is denial. But unlike in facing death, denial takes the form of derision and dismissal. Israel apologists first believed BDS was preposterous. They dismissed it as a vacant threat, something dreamed up by the ultra-left. Then there were tiny acts of bravery that gave BDS small initial amounts of traction. First, Neve Gordon published his op-ed in the Los Angeles Times personally endorsing BDS. His gesture led to the second stage of Israeli response to BDS: anger. The president of Ben Gurion University tried to persuade Neve’s department to sidetrack his appointment as chair of his academic department. She publicly said she wanted him to quit and wished she could fire him. But she couldn’t. Like Gordon, members of an Israeli theater group protested their engagement in the Ariel settlement. Though the performance went forward, a number of prominent artists refused to join. Then New York artists signed a petition supporting them which caused the incident to enter the American Jewish debate. Though BDS had existed several years before this incident, it was the first time I recalled that Israelis as a group joined in a boycott. This gradually gave permission to foreign artists to take a stand themselves. This led to Roger Waters endorsement of BDS and refusal to perform. Of course, artists still agree to appear in Israel. And Israel’s champions trumpet every one as if it’s a piece of gold bullion that proves Israel is just. But there is a tide that is rolling in and it’s carrying more and more power with it as it reaches shore. The latest Sodastream fiasco has taken BDS to a new level. Now, Israel’s supporters don’t snigger as if it’s a silly game. They don’t like it, but they can’t dismiss it. You simply can’t argue with every major media outlet in the world running a story on the prominent actress’ dismissal (essentially, what it was) from her role as Oxfam’s Global Ambassador. BDS is now a major story. Of course, those fighting against the movement are hoping it is a fad. They’re waiting for the furor to die down so they can return to business as usual. And for a time they can. The struggle against the Occupation isn’t linear. It’s doesn’t run inexorably toward peace and justice. It meanders through history. It takes one step forward and a half-step back. But the Johansson story was the crossing of a political Rubicon. Proof of that may be seen in the first-ever Israel cabinet meeting devoted solely to BDS. At this meeting, none of the ministers could coalesce around a single plan to combat it. Haaretz reports that Minister for Strategic Planning (that’s the portfolio that encompasses existential threats like “delegitimization”) proposed a $30-million plan to amplify Israel opposition to BDS. This presumably would involve what they’re already doing, except on a much more intense level. Examples of this are the Olympia Food Coop lawsuit, which was dismissed by a Washington State court as a SLAPP (nuisance) case. During the deliberations, a Israel TV journalist interviewing deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, elicited the official’s boast that the government was directly involved in, and approved the lawsuit. He didn’t specify whether it was providing funding or other more specific types of support in this campaign. Electronic Intifada reported recently on the deliberate infiltration of a campus human rights group by a pro-Israel spy who reported on the political views of individual participants. Israel may be planning a Zionist version of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Agents and spies will fan out and identify targets and report back either to domestic pro-Isrel groups like StandWithUs, The Israel Project, or directly to their handlers in Israel. Some may scoff at this. But as EI reported, the ADL did precisely the same thing in the 1980s. Though presumably the ADL effort hasn’t been restarted, it has created a template for what can be done. The fight against BDS will take many forms: the government will confront it both head-on and in surreptitious ways. But liberal Zionists and pro-Israel intellectuals and journalists will address BDS in more sophisticated ways. We can see examples of this just in recent days in the American media. As Mondoweiss reports, Hirsh Goodman, the Jerusalem Post’s former security reporter (and husband of NY Times Israel reporter, Isabel Kershner) has penned an attack on BDS in the Times (accompanied by an op-ed favorable to the movement by none other than its founder, Omar Barghouti). Jane Eisner in The Forward, makes another rather feeble attempt to discredit BDS. Max Fisher in the Washington Post too takes on the subject. And finally, Mira Sucharov attempted to poke holes in BDS in Haaretz. All of these attempted critiques of BDS contain remarkably similar arguments, many of which are either flat-out wrong or distortions. Fisher, for example, says that BDS calls for a boycott of “all Israel.” BDS actually calls for a boycott of Israeli state institutions especially those which serve or maintain the Occupation. Another argument is that BDS will only antagonize Israelis, rather than persuade them that the Occupation is wrong and has to be ended. I’m afraid we’re far beyond that place. Only the most naive believe that any Israeli, even those on the center-left, can be convinced through moral suasion that the Occupation must end and a Palestinian state must be created immediately. The Right of Return is another bone of contention. Opponents argue that Israel will be so inundated with Palestinian refugees it will either be destroyed or lose whatever Jewish character it has. This is a patently false argument since a report commissioned by the Knesset (pg. 7) which cited a Khalil Shikaki survey, found that less than 400,000 refugees wanted to return to Israel. Many of these preferred to do so only if they did not have to take Israeli citizenship. Therefore, even that number might shrink (unless there could be a form of citizenship for Israeli Jewish settlers and Palestinian refugees whereby the former were Israeli citizens, while the latter were Palestinians, even though they didn’t live in the country of which they were citizens). During multiple negotiations going all the way back to 1949, Israel offered to resettle 100,000 refugees, making 400,000 seem not an unreasonable figure today. Part of the reason that not all refugees might choose to return is that they will be offered compensation for their suffering and lost property. This would enable them to make a free choice where to reside. Some may choose to remain where they are, some may settle in Palestine, if such a state is ever created; and some may return to Israel. At any rate, there is absolutely no possibility Israel will lose its Jewish majority anytime soon. Unless of course, it refuses to create a Palestinian state and the only remaining option is a single state. Then, in fact, Jews would be in a minority and have to learn to fend for themselves within a democratic country in which they did not have supremacy. Sucharov’s column is a rather representative piece of anti-BDS rhetoric couched in terms slightly more sophisticated than the average diatribe. So let’s address some of her claims. First she claims to want to undo some of the “confusion” surrounding BDS. Undoubtedly when an opponent makes such a claim it is they who are either confused or seek to introduce confusion that doesn’t exist. She begins by comparing the two Intifadas as forms of violent resistance, with BDS, which is non-violent. Then she adds this odd claim: But if the means — non-violent, economic pressure — are more moderate than what had come before it [the Intifadas], in some ways the goals are more extreme. Since the peace process began over two decades ago, the conventional wisdom has been that a two-state solution will be the result. Her historical error is in characterizing the Intifada as a Palestinian battle for a two-state solution. Certainly, there were some Palestinians for whom that may’ve been the goal. But the vast majority of Palestinians simply were expressing their resistance to Occupation. It was a spontaneous political expression, not a planned strategy. So to say its goal was two-states is simply false. Not to mention, that even if this claim was true then, it’s been rendered obsolete by Israeli-generated facts on the ground. Most importantly, Sucharov falsely argues here that BDS’ goals are “more extreme.” By this she means the following: …By demanding the full return of Palestinian refugees into Israel and demanding that Israel give up its core identity of being a Jewish state, the BDS movement is out of step with the most likely outcome — and, from the point of view of overlapping needs and desires, probably the best one, too. As is common with such arguments, Sucharov sets up a strawman and then knocks him down. She defines the “full return of Palestinian refugees” to mean that every single refugee eligible to return will do so. This is a false argument and Sucharov knows it, is as I’ve noted above. Even in the unlikely event that 1-million refguees resettle themselves in Israel, this is no more than the number of Soviet Jews who make aliyah to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s. Given the far more generous funding that will be available to resettle Palestinian refugees from states which will contribute billions for this purpose, the process of return should be no more complex or traumatic than it was for Soviet Jewry. Her other straw argument is that BDS demands that Israel give up its identity as a Jewish state. Actually, BDS makes no such demand. It only demands justice and defines this as allowing refugees to return. BDS demands that Jews give up supremacy and transform Israel into a truly democratic state. Even this doesn’t preclude Israeli Jews from honoring their traditions within such a nation (nor does it preclude Palestinians from doing the same). My strongest objection to such arguments is that they project a settlement between Israel and Palestinians as a zero-sum game. Either one group wins or the other. There is no scenario by which both win. This is a fatally flawed concept. The most comical claim above is that BDS is “out of step” with “the most likely outcome” and “best one.” An aspect of the hasbara debates seen in comment threads here is that readers substitute their opinion for facts or evidence. Here Sucharov has substituted her own prejudices, her own preconceived ideas, for reality. They become the most likely and best outcome because she can’t stretch her mind to consider any other. That’s simply not what academics, scholars and analysts do. Their careers, if successful, are based on considering many different possibilities and scenarios. She clearly has only considered the ones she prefers. If she has considered any other, she certainly hasn’t given it serious thought. In fact, the two state solution, abrogation of the Right of Return, and the supremacy of Jews in Israel are neither the most likely or best outcomes. In fact, Israel in future will most likely be much different from Sucharov’s conception. It may even be different from mine, but it will be far closer to mine than hers because mine encompasses the interests and aspirations of both sides, while hers only admits of the interests of one side. The Canadian-Jewish academic continues her disingenuous analysis of BDS with this: Maybe, then, we should assume that the goal of those who support BDS is not a two-state solution at all, but is indeed a “one-state solution,” whereby Israel ceases to be a Jewish state in any meaningful way, and all refugees are granted return. In the very first phrase of this passage Sucharov “assumes” a fact concerning BDS that isn’t the case. As a number of prior analysts have noted, BDS doesn’t posit any particular plan for Israel-Palestine. There are of course many BDS supporters who support a one-state solution (largely because Israel itself has foreclosed other options). There are others who support two-states. Also note the claim that BDS would preclude Israel being a “Jewish state in any meaningful way.” This depends on how you define your terms. By Jewish state, do we mean that Jews should have a monopoly on political power as they do now? Or do we mean that Israel would be a state in which Jews would find a homeland and self-determination as a people (with another people, the Palestinians, offered the same rights)? If the former, then BDS is arguing against Jewish supremacism. But it is not arguing against Israel as place in which Jewish traditions, culture and religion underpin the state (just as Palestinian ones would). Sucharov rather naïvely argues that rejecting a Sodastream factory in the West Bank is counter-productive, because it is just such economic development that will be necessary if Palestine is to succeed economically. There are so many fallacious assumptions here it’s hard to know where to begin. But first let’s hear her argument: Such a company would continue to employ the 500 Palestinian workers it currently employs, while also paying taxes to the Palestinian government. The company’s CEO has even explicitly stated his willingness to do this in such a post-two-state scenario. Sodastream is located in the Territories for one reason–well, two reasons: first Palestinians are so desperate for work due to Israel’s strangulation of their economy that they’ll work for a pittance compared to Israelis. This keeps wages down. Second, Israel provides massive subsidies for enterprises that locate beyond the Green Line. As soon as that subsidy ends (as it would after a peace agreement), Sodastream will hightail it back to Israel. Further, in a future Palestine it should not be the responsibility of Israelis to develop the Palestinian economy. That is the role of Palestinians themselves. If Palestine determines such a factory is beneficial then it should exist if the CEO is willing to do business there. But if Palestine determines it has other economic priorities, then it shouldn’t. In short, this isn’t a game of noblesse oblige in which Israeli entrepreneurs are doing Palestinian a big favor by giving them business. The Haaretz blogger concludes with yet another unreasonable demand she makes of the Palestinian justice movement: ..If it’s [BDS] meant as a coherent, causal-chain form of political action, then BDS supporters also need to be clearer on what the intended endgame is for any given act of protest. What she’s done here is to conflate BDS with a peace agreement. BDS isn’t the Geneva Initiative. It isn’t envisioning the political future in specific detail. It’s laying out three basic principles that must undergird any future agreement. But aside from those three concepts the sky’s the limit. There may be one state or two. The beauty of BDS is in its flexibility. It is just such flexibility that unnerves liberal Zionists like Sucharov. For if BDS was more specific it would lose supporters and opponents would far more easily poke holes in its argument. It’s important to acknowledge what BDS cannot do: it cannot single-handedly topple the Occupation, no more than sanctions against South Africa defeated apartheid. The international struggle against the Occupation must use many tools to convey its message and persuade the world and its leaders of the justice of its cause. BDS will be one of them. As I’ve focussed in this post on the deficiencies of the anti-BDS argument, there are some powerful affirmations published recently as well. One of the best is this NY Times op-ed by Prof. Avi Shlaim. Among his most telling argument is this: Israeli leaders have always underlined the vital importance of self-reliance when it comes to Israel’s security. But the simple truth is that Israel wouldn’t be able to survive for very long without American support. Since 1949, America’s economic aid to Israel amounts to a staggering $118 billion and America continues to subsidize the Jewish state to the tune of $3 billion annually. America is also Israel’s main arms supplier and the official guarantor of its “quantitative military edge” over all its Arab neighbors. In the diplomatic arena, Israel relies on America to shield it from the consequences of its habitual violations of international law. The International Court of Justice pronounced the so-called “security barrier” that Israel is building on the West Bank to be illegal. All of Israel’s civilian settlements on the West Bank violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, but Israel continues to expand them. Since 1978, when the Camp David Accords were brokered by President Jimmy Carter, the United States has used its veto power on the Security Council 42 times on behalf of Israel. The most shocking abuse of this power was to veto, in February 2011, a resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion that had the support of the 14 other members of the Security Council. Though neither Israel nor its advocates in this country foresee a time when American support will wane, neither did East Germans foresee the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of East and West Germany, Russians never believed Communism would self-destruct either. History has a way of making fools of those who believe the status quo can last forever. The harder we try to maintain it, the harder it tries to return to some form of social or political equilibrium. Eventually, this will happen to Israel too. It’s leaders and voters who elect them can continue to bury their heads in the sand and refuse to compromise. They will wake up one morning abandoned. Then their choices will be far more limited. Yair Lapid seems to have advanced to the grief stage of bargaining. He understand the dollars and cents cost of BDS: Yair Lapid, Israel’s centrist finance minister, warned this week, “If the negotiations with the Palestinians get stuck or break down and we enter a reality of a European boycott, even a very partial one, Israel’s economy will retreat.” Speaking at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, he said that “every resident of Israel will get hit straight in the pocket.” Moral suasion has failed. Political jawboning has failed. One of the only arrows left in the quiver is economic threat. The truth is that Israeli obduracy has made BDS successful rather than the other way around. That doesn’t mean that Yair Lapid represents any sort of Israeli pragmatism. His offer to a Palestinian interlocutor would be little different than Bibi’s. Lapid merely favors a different arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic. He still has another level or two of BDS to work through before he gains ‘acceptance,’ the final one. But at least he understands the efficacy of BDS, which is more than you can say for most of the rest of the cabinet ministers. F.W. DeKlerk had gone through all the levels of grief when he negotiated the end of apartheid. Whatever shortcomings he may’ve had, he was smart enough to understand that the white minority had little choice but to concede and reach a suitable compromise. Israel’s leaders have yet to get to this point, the final stage of grief: acceptance.
“Havoc” may best describe the lives of many Midwestern families this winter, as Mother Nature brought unrelenting wind, rain, snow, ice, and record-setting chills. For families like mine, balancing professional lives, parenting, and maintaining a household are demanding enough without becoming the object of nature’s merciless torments. Nonetheless, despite all the challenges that the conflicting demands of work and family introduce in our lives, this living on the edge of chaos is exactly what we chose. Most American parents want to work beyond the household, and most are doing so. Such a narrow balancing act between the demands of work and family, however, raises important questions about which is more important and in which parents should feel more fulfilled. The tradition of Catholic social teaching provides helpful guidance in clarifying the dignity and importance of both work and family. But the concerns of this tradition and the realities of life for many American parents do not mesh perfectly, particularly for working mothers, caregiving fathers, and couples pursuing the present cultural ideal of negotiated roles between equal partners. As a consequence of the gendered distinctions employed in Catholic social teaching and sometimes reflected in U.S. society, the tradition presents differing messages to men and women about how to seek balance and fulfillment within the realities of work and family. While it is common knowledge that Catholic teaching places great value on the family, and certain types of families in particular, less well known is the emphasis Catholic social teaching places on the value of work. This discrepancy can lead to the belief that work’s sole or principal function is to support the family. It can also lead to the assumption that finding fulfillment in family life is categorically more important than finding satisfaction in our professional lives. This reduction to a simple hierarchy sells work short. While it is important to acknowledge that, for many, work and family life can be sources of anxiety, toil, and suffering, the Catholic tradition envisions both good work and harmonious family life as important and significant sources of fulfillment. From Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking social encyclical of 1891, Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor), to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’ (Care for Our Common Home), the church has made the significance of work and support for the rights of workers an ongoing priority. Work, at its best, is both a duty and an opportunity to grow and be shaped as persons. Good work requires effort and creativity. Because of this, it is an important means of expressing our dignity as human persons and deepening our relationship with God and others. While John Paul II was certainly not one to underestimate the importance of the family, neither was he willing to underestimate work. In his often underappreciated encyclical, Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), Pope John Paul II clearly articulates a Christian vision of good work. In both work and family he saw possibilities for building authentic relationships, expressing and developing oneself as a person, and growing in Christian holiness. While the intrinsic value of work to workers themselves should not be overlooked, work also clearly serves an important role in safeguarding the stability and security of families. This balance between work and family in Catholic social teaching was made easier by neat and tidy gender roles. Catholic teaching of the early 20th century sought to protect family stability and well-being by advocating for better working conditions for male heads of households. Meanwhile women were instructed quite seriously not to desire participation in the labor force. Instead, women were to remain on their “regal thrones” within the household. By attending to their domestic duties, women could directly contribute to the good of their families and indirectly to society at large. Both partners were to oversee the religious, moral, and social education of their children, yet wives were reminded of their due subservience to their husbands, owing to the natural order of things. When these duties were embraced, a holy and tranquil family life was to follow. This ideal was of course never reality for many families. For immigrants and minorities as well as families affected by war and poverty, conditions rarely permitted such serene order. As the century progressed, the ideal itself came under increased social scrutiny as support for civil equality across genders grew. At mid-century, the documents of Vatican II recognized these realities and ushered in support for egalitarian marriage and a more qualified backing of women’s right to participate in the workforce and public life. These developments expanded concern for labor beyond male heads of families to a broader swath of society. Nonetheless, concern that work ought to be humane and fulfilling while supporting conditions conducive to stable family life remained consistent. Today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in about half of U.S. two-parent households both parents are employed full-time. Even among the least employed subset of parents, married mothers, almost 70 percent are, by and large, busy with jobs and careers. Driven in part by increasing educational attainment and decreasing wage inequality, the overall portion of women in the labor force is growing and mothers are increasingly becoming primary breadwinners. Single mothers, meanwhile, are employed more often and tend to out-earn their married peers despite often living in low-income households. And yet, portions of the former ideal family order, where the man works and the woman stays at home, persist in both Catholic teaching and popular culture. Catholic teaching officially considers men and women equal partners in marriage mutually called to love and take responsibility for their family. Nonetheless, women are much more frequently the subject of special concern, particularly regarding career aspirations and the obligations of motherhood. Women’s work within the home continues to be an area of concern, while Catholic leaders have argued that it ought to be socially recognized, supported, and compensated as a form of labor. The jury is still out on if this support is a disinterested call to recognize the importance of domestic caregiving or a tactic to reinforce outdated gender roles. The first option would be more convincing if Catholic leaders were similarly wary of male work-family conflicts or more sensitive to fathers who may be primary caregivers for young children. Socially, the story is similar. While Americans support the idea of working women and involved fathers, the wage gap among genders persists, access to affordable quality childcare is limited, generous maternity and paternity leave is hard to come by, and men have largely failed to assume greater responsibilities within the home at anywhere near a rate consistent with women’s greater participation in the workforce. This is not to discount the proportional leaps in the number of single fathers and fathers who are primary caregivers, but these numbers are tiny compared to mothers. Despite expectations of egalitarian marriages leading to negotiated responsibilities, truly equal distribution of tasks has not been widely reflected in actual marriages. Women overwhelmingly assume the imbalance. So where should parents today look for fulfillment, given the array of responsibilities and the disparities that exist among parents? The answer according to Catholic teaching is fairly straightforward . . . for heterosexual men. When addressing fathers, the spheres of work and home life seem neatly divided. As long as balance is maintained, so that career supports a healthy family life and a family life supports success in one’s career, there is no inherent conflict between the two. Fulfillment is noncompetitive but is instead driven by balance and commitment. That is, a man can find fulfillment at home, at work, during leisure or exercise, and in many other arenas of life. None of these are in conflict with each other, and an intentional, well-balanced life ought to lead to fulfillment in many areas of life. For women, the picture is complicated. In contrast to men, the vocation and social roles of women in Catholic teachings are much more tightly bound up with women’s vocation to motherhood, nurture, and domestic caregiving. Even women who are not mothers are called to exercise this essential motherly dimension of their feminine identity. Consequently, employment is seen as a potential source of conflict for women, as it can compete with or distract from family obligations. Moreover, women’s involvement in their family is prioritized over and often against their professional aspirations. This doesn’t necessarily mean that women must find greater fulfillment in family than in work, or other spheres of life, but it certainly stacks the deck in that direction, as it sets these responsibilities at odds with one another. Catholic teachings of recent decades have been somewhat attuned to this gendered imbalance, but remain firmly committed to essential gender distinctions. Again, social reality is not so different. Disparities in hiring practices among men and women are becoming well known. In terms of compensation, men typically benefit from getting married (the marriage bump) while women tend to lose ground (the marriage penalty). Fatherhood remains linked to employment, with relatively few expectations for childcare (e.g., dads “babysitting” their children), while mothers are subject to higher expectations of caregiving and supervising children in public settings. Although most American mothers today work and want to work, social pressures generally reinforce the idea that women are more naturally equipped for parenthood and ought to place greater weight for personal fulfillment on their identity as mothers. In spite of complications and disparities, the Catholic tradition clearly acknowledges that while the relationships that tie families together are fundamentally important, good work also opens us to the presence of God in our lives. In theory, no sphere of human interaction can possibly be closed to God, who calls us to become more fully ourselves across the various facets of our lives. Nonetheless, the roads to fulfillment are not identically mapped for men and women. Important questions are raised when we consider the extent to which gender ought to define where we seek fulfillment and how Catholic teaching and our social context shapes and misshapes these expectations. This article also appears in the April 2019 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 84, No. 4, pages 23–25).
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Make use of the right resources for your organisation. Online, you need the aid of other provider which will definitely provide you more earnings. Such as add system to track your clicks on, sales and more, autoresponder to follow up your leads and bring in additional amount of money in the future, channel building contractor (you can easily get it in clickfunnels), webhosting, as well as more. You can not be successful if you’ll do it by yourself, discover the right devices that are going to provide your online business empire. It is going to aid you run your online organisation on autopilot. This ClickFunnel Customer Review Can Assist You Are you an on the internet business person? Are you battling to sell your products online? It is likely that you just manage to sell a few items in a month. A lot of organisations locate it difficult to convert internet guests into sales. This impairs them coming from receiving a great revenue as well as extending in size. If this is your main issue, do not lose hope however, simply transform your strategies. The remedy to your concern is actually to make use of Purchases funnels. ” Seriously effective tools to easily set up funnels, member areas, and far more.” Overall: Easy setup and management of funnels, with choices to incorporate your whole site in there if you want to. Cool tools that allow you to handle the flow without typing in URLs, as it goes to the next action in the funnel. The greatest advantage here is speed to perform, as whatever is set out for you, with sample funnels too, to give you an initial concept of flow. You might seriously run a whole business on here, and it benefits selling in addition to lead generation. Pros: Funnels include many moving parts, pages, and pieces. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off You can easily establish funnels for particular markets, tying them together and tracking in such a way that’s visual (not Kanban, however close) and simple to understand. Rather of complex user interfaces, you have an easy step by step way to get things going rapidly. As a skilled user, I was impressed by the value this delivers for people despite capability. Couple of years ago this would have cost you thousands to establish separately, and left you requiring tech assistance. Clickfunnels removes that and makes it so even a beginner can utilize this tool. Cons: My dislikes are more nit picky than grievances; setup of URLs can involve 2 separate screens, that makes it a little confusing at initially. A broader selection of templates will help, however they do have a neighborhood of developers contributing to it daily, so this is likely a short term problem. Supplier Response By Click Funnels on August 17, 2017Thanks a lot for your feedback. We will keep making it better and much easier all the time. Clickfunnels is a popular landing page, sales funnel home builder and all-in-one hosted option that will allow you to create extremely optimized landing pages and sales funnels. This effective tool is jam-packed filled with features and functionality, showing whatever you need to promote, offer, and provide your items and services. However Clickfunnels likewise features a hefty cost. We discuss what you can achieve with Clickfunnels, consider its leading features, and take a look at how to get begun with this option and produce your first sales funnel. So let’s get begun Clickfunnels: An Overview Clickfunnels was developed in 2014 by Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson, and is now worth over $360 million. Clickfunnels is an outstanding solution and a perfect tool for online services, startups, and business owners alike. Whatever your goals, whether you are wanting to collect leads, promote your services, or offer items, you can increase your conversion rates with Clickfunnels. Clickfunnels provides a variety of pre-made sales funnels, landing page templates, and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, offering a smooth funnel design procedure. So now we have a clear understanding of what Clickfunnels is using, let’s next look more in-depth at the key functions of this platform Clickfunnels Includes Clickfunnels is packed filled with remarkable functions and tools to guarantee you can rapidly and easily develop lovely, high converting and practical sales funnels. As part of the service, Clickfunnels takes care of all security and maintenance issues, making sure that your web pages load quickly and suffer minimal downtime. Predefined Sales Funnels Clickfunnels is a landing page home builder that offers a number of predefined sales funnels for you to pick from. These have actually been classified into industries along with according to the goal they have actually been developed to achieve. You can also develop custom-made sales funnels, catering specifically for your specific online goals. Design templates Clickfunnels has a library of free and exceptional landing page design templates for you to select from. These landing pages are all fully enhanced and produced to convert, ensuring they engage with your users and assist you attain your objectives. Drag and Drop Editor Sales funnels are exceptionally easy to develop with Clickfunnels due to the instinctive drag-and-drop editor. Constructed to make the development and style process an enjoyable and smooth experience, with the Clickfunnels editor you won’t need to touch a line of code. Just click a page element to resize it or move it around the page. Editor Features Let’s see what else you can do in the Clickfunnels editor Material Blocks Pick from a variety of content obstructs that can be quickly dragged and dropped onto your sales funnel. These consist of a FAQ section, rates table, timer, development bar, and a lot more. Media Select and include images, video, or audio to your sales funnel. Videos can likewise be embedded from You Tube, Vimeo, and Wistia. Fonts Pick from one of the numerous Google typefaces for your material and headlines, modify the color, alter the size, and more. Background Select background colors, images, or videos for your sales funnels. Forms Within the editor, you can add a variety of sophisticated type types to your funnels.\| Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off Customized CSS For those of you positive with coding, you can include your own custom CSS designs to your page (this isn’t obligatory however a nice extra for those who desire it). As you can see, the Clickfunnels editor uses much in the method of use, tools, and functions, making sure that, you develop spectacular and extremely converting sales funnels.e Commerce Clickfunnels is a great option to help increase sales. With Clickfunnels you can sell both digital and physical items. Clickfunnels also incorporates with Ship Station, an e Commerce fulfillment center, which will take care of all the lengthy packaging and shipping. Clickfunnels likewise incorporates will various payment gateways including Pay Pal Stripe Authorize. Net Click Bank Infusion Soft So whatever your e Commerce preferences, Clickfunnels will have something to cater for your needs. Knapsack allows you to set up an affiliate programme to offer your items, both digital and physical, to help drive traffic to your site. Here are a few of the benefits of picking Knapsack to develop your affiliate program Style your own custom affiliate strategies. Develop different kinds of affiliates (ie Regular affiliates, Super affiliates, Buddies and Household, etc). Create a two-tiered affiliate program (ie let affiliates recruit affiliates). Manage affiliates and payments. Backpack is offered as part of the Clickfunnels top-end Etison Suite plan (prices choices will be covered further on in this evaluation). Subscription Website Functionality The Clickfunnels subscription funnels have been produced to allow you to offer access to your membership website, or premium material areas. A subscription funnel starts with the promoting of your site, showing leading material and describing why users need to subscribe Clickfunnels supplies complete fully-functional membership funnels and landing page templates to increase sign-ups to your website. Or additionally, you can develop a customized subscription funnel from scratch using a blank template. Webinars With Clickfunnels you can develop webinar funnels to help you grow your brand name, sell your items and spread the word about your services. First of all you can host a live webinar using a service like Go To Webinar or Zoom. You can then use a Clickfunnels occasion funnel to tailor the registration process and boost attendance. Alternatively, you can produce a pre-recorded webinar that Clickfunnels can then play on-demand, automatically running the entire webinar procedure for you. However, Clickfunnels likewise provides its own marketing automation platform, Actionetics, which is readily available on the Etison Suite strategy. Actionetics incorporates flawlessly with your sales funnels, and assists to keep all your online interactions within the Clickfunnels control panel. With Actionetics you can Set Up Email and Smart Lists Produce Email Projects Design Action Funnels and Follow Up Funnels Utilize Clickbots Track Customer Metrics As you can see, Actionetics has an excellent feature diminish, making it easier to connect with your clients on a personal level. A/b testing is vital to understand what works and what doesn’t. Practically any aspect of a funnel can be split checked, including Pages Headlines Copy Images and Videos Buttons Clickfunnels then instantly tracks your funnels’ analytics, giving you as much as date stats on how your pages are performing. Within the dashboard you can access stats on Page Views User Habits Conversion Rates Comparisons In Between Funnels Metrics in time Monitoring your analytics will assist you understand what your customers are responding too, and assist you plan modifications and enhancements for future funnels. Support and Paperwork Clickfunnels supplies excellent assistance for their users in the kind of an extensive knowledge base. This knowledge base is really well set out and arranged, allowing you to quickly discover the support paperwork you need. In addition to the understanding base, throughout the Clickfunnels control panel there is a broad assortment of help videos and descriptions, sharing finest practices, explanations of tools, and top pointers for using the various Clickfunnels features. A Neighborhood assistance online forum, discovered through the understanding base, helps users connect and go over any issues, questions, or inquiries. The Clickfunnels Facebook page, which is currently followed by almost 200,000 people, is likewise another fantastic place for motivation and interaction in between Clickfunnel users. Clickfunnels has also developed an active You Tube channel, loaded full of helpful videos helping users to get the most out of their product. So now we have an excellent idea of the features and tools that Clickfunnels supplies. Let’s next take a look at the Clickfunnels user experience Starting with Clickfunnels Prior to you start with Clickfunnels it is worth making the most of their 14-day complimentary trial. To do so you will require to provide your credit card details. Not many people cancel after this trial time, as the learning curve isn’t steep at all. So let’s very first take a look at how to sign up with Clickfunnels To sign up with Clickfunnels, open their homepage and click the Start Your 2 week Free Trial link. Use this link to get started. Account Settings Before you create any sales pages and sales funnels, you will initially require to inspect that your account settings are established properly. To do this, first of all click your avatar in the top right-hand corner of the screen, and after that select Account Particulars. Here you can configure a variety of settings including Profile Edit your photo, e-mail address, password, and other individual info.\| The third-party integration choices will then be shown in alphabetical order for you to choose from. There are 3 key combinations that you are going to desire to establish directly from the outset. These consist of Autoresponder Pick from one of the lots of third-party autoresponders (Mail Chimp, Aweber, and a lot more). Integration with your email marketing activities is critical. Payment Gateways Again there are many payment entrance alternatives to select from (Strike, Pay Pal, Infusion Soft, etc). Make certain you are clear on the terms, conditions, and fees of your payment service provider before established. Outbound SMPT This is the system Clickfunnels utilizes to send out transactional e-mails, like invoices and shipping notices. To incorporate any of these third-party services, just click the application, then follow the install instructions. For each procedure, Clickfunnels supplies assistance material, so if you aren’t sure on a combination set-up, have a look at the knowledge base. Domain Before you develop any sales page/ sales funnels it is likewise essential to set up your domain. You can then pick to Include Your own Domain Easily include a domain or subdomain that you currently own, or buy one from a good domain registrar. Whether you are linking your own domain or creating a brand-new one, just follow the guidelines to complete either of these processes. You will now be all set to produce your very first funnel Developing a Funnel There are 2 main approaches that you can use to produce a funnel The Classic Funnel Home builder Select an objective, pick a funnel type, and then build your funnel. If you are new to Clickfunnels, the Funnel Cookbook is the obvious choice to help you quickly established a successful funnel. So let’s now have an appearance at how to develop a successful list building funnel using the Clickfunnels Cookbook Utilizing the Clickfunnels Cookbook On the Clickfunnels control panel, choose + Brand-new Funnel Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off. Clickfunnels has actually then provided me with the top pre-defined funnels that match my specs Once you have actually made your selection, you will find a video and an explanatory text. These offer you recommendations on how to finest utilize your chosen funnel. On the right-hand side of the page, you can also see the number of pages your funnel has, and view a map of the funnel. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off There are both complimentary and premium templates, which can be viewed before you decide. These design templates are all 100% adjustable, so you can go ahead and simply choose the template that is the closest fit to your requirements. Setting Up the Funnel Settings After selecting a funnel template, Clickfunnels will show it within your control panel. These include Edit Page Click to modify your funnel. Settings Configure your funnel’s settings. Funnel Steps View your funnel’s pages and add more. Introduce List Check what steps need finishing before releasing your funnel. Automation Send emails or SMS messages to brand-new contacts. Contacts View new contacts collected. Statistics View your funnel’s stats. Click Settings in the top right-hand corner of the control panel. Here you can Domain Select the domain name you wish to use for your funnel. Path Select the course of the domain for your funnel (eg www.mysitesname.com/home). SMPT Configuration Select the SMPT setup that you established under Combinations. Head and Body Tracking Codes Include any site-wide tracking codes here (eg Google Analytics pixel). The Clickfunnel understanding base offers more details on customizing your funnel settings if you need to need it. Personalizing the Funnel in the Editor Click back onto the Optin page of your funnel, discovered in the left-hand side menu of the Clickfunnels control panel, and after that choose Edit Page. Here you can fully personalize the look of your template. Let’s take a look at what you can do Mobile/Desktop View Check out how your funnel search both mobile and desktop gadgets. SEO Meta Data Under Settings SEO Meta Data you can add your funnels SEO details, consisting of title, description, keywords, and more. Sections Add, copy, and manage your funnel areas. Here you can change section settings, along with select from pre-made sections. Components Drag and drop pre-made elements onto your funnel from the Elements tab. Add types, media, content blocks, and much more. All elements can be drag and dropped around the page, and settings can be altered by clicking directly onto the particular component that you want to edit. To do so, choose Settings Combinations, and after that select your SMPT service from the drop-down menu. Take your time acquainting yourself with the Clickfunnels Editor, then personalize your funnel to your precise specifications. Sending Emails Sending out outbound e-mails via your Clickfunnels is also quick and simple to set up. This can be done one of 2 methods Actionetics This premium service will allow you to develop e-mail projects, email lists, action and follow-up funnels, and much more. Simply choose Automation tab, then Include New Email to produce the email and configure the settings Publishing Your funnel need to now be total and all set to share. Open your funnel’s URL to check that you enjoy with the appearance of your funnel, and importantly test that it works. Clickfunnels then makes it very simple to share your brand-new funnel on your social networks channels. And due to the various features and tools readily available, you can really produce unique and expert funnels, tailored to the needs and objectives of your company. So just how much will this option cost you Clickfunnels Prices As discussed previously, Clickfunnels isn’t an inexpensive tool. So let’s have a look at the two Clickfunnels pricing bundles that are on offer Clickfunnels ($ 97 a month) On this standard plan you can sign up three domains, develop 20 marketing funnels with 100 pages, and receive up to 20,000 visitors. Etison Suite ($ 297 a month) This package gives you endless access to all the Clickfunnels functions, and allows you to produce as lots of domains, funnels, and pages as you require. The Etison Suite also offers you access to both Actionetics and Knapsack. Seemingly, Clickfunnels isn’t low-cost, so before you decide on whether this is the right tool for you, benefit from its 14 day trial. The great feature of their affiliate platform is that they offer their affiliates with everything they might perhaps require to efficiently promote Clickfunnels. These variety from banners ads, pre-written e-mail campaigns templates, tailored landing pages therefore a lot more. There’s a great deal of money to be made in affiliate marketing, particularly promoting items with high commission tiers like Clickfunnels. Final Ideas on Clickfunnels There is no doubt that Clickfunnels is an excellent tool that could potentially make a huge effect on any organisation. Loaded loaded with tools, features, and performance, whatever your goals, Clickfunnels can help you increase conversions and make cash. Although pricey, if you have the budget plan for this tool and desire to see your company grow, then Clickfunnels deserves the investment. What is Click Funnels Click Funnels advantages Summary of Click Funnels features Click Funnels pricing User complete satisfaction Video Technical details Assistance information Clickfunnels is an online sales funnel builder that assists businesses market, sell, and deliver their products online. This tool simplifies internet marketing, selling, and delivery of their services and products by offering users with funnel options that are pre-built for a specific service, item, or service. Conventional online funneling ways you require to deal with website hosting, landing pages, e-mail autoresponders, and more and have them all operate in unison. It’s all tough work but traditional sales funnels are time intensive and really pricey. Clickfunnels integrates all these and more, offering them in an extensive, unified package so you will not need to handle them one by one. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off Click Funnels is a popular sales funnel tool that streamlines the entire sales and marketing funnels for all types of organisations. There are various kinds of sales funnels and each one needs to be designed and organized in a manner that attracts its designated client. There are funnels for webinars, sales, subscription sites, and customer list and every one are rather various from the other. With Click Funnels, users are dealt with to a a range of pre-built sales funnels and all they have to do is select the one that matches their service requirements. Selling a membership and marketing an e-book might be comparable in terms of them trying to make a sale, but they need to be managed differently. Once you have actually picked your funnel, you require to have a design template. With Click Funnels, you are treated to a range of templates and all of them are evaluated and shown to work. With a crowd of tested and tested templates at your disposal, Click Funnels accelerates your A/B testing stage since you do not have to weed out templates that are not performing. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off There is no learning curve to handle at all. Customized Domains A/B Split Tests Email Integrations Optin Funnels Click Pops Click Optin All Advanced Funnels Sales Funnels Subscription Funnels Vehicle Webinar Funnels Webinar Funnels Hangout Funnels Order Pages Upsell Pages Downsale Pages Share Your Funnels Top Priority Support Priority Design template Requests Due to the fact that business have specific business-related desires, it is useful they avoid going for a one-size-fits-all, “best” software application service. The efficient thing to do would be to shortlist the numerous crucial functions that involve research including significant features, strategies, technical ability aptitude of staff, organizational size, etc. The second action is, you should double down on the research study adequately. Browse through a few of these Click Funnels analyses and inspect each of the options in your list in information. Position of Click Funnels in our main categories: If you have an interest in Click Funnels it might also be an excellent concept to examine other subcategories of Sales Software noted in our database of Saa S software application evaluations. It is crucial to understand that nearly no software application in the Sales Software classification is a perfect option that can fulfill all the goals of all company types, sizes and markets. Others can operate with an objective of being easy and intuitive and consequently lack advanced elements needed by more experienced users. You can likewise find solutions that cater to a big group of consumers and provide you an abundant function toolbox, however this in many cases comes at a higher price of such a software application.\| The data is then presented in an easy to digest kind demonstrating how lots of people had favorable and unfavorable experience with Click Funnels. With that details at hand you need to be equipped to make a notified buying decision that you won’t regret. Gadgets Supported Release Prices Model Customer Types Small Company Large Enterprises Medium Company emailphonelive supporttrainingtickets. Can Click Funnels replace Infusionsoft Click Funnels and Infusionsoft may seem equivalent, however each platform offers considerable differences that serve a specific kind of users. Click Funnels is created for marketers and small business who require their landing pages and other marketing tools are incorporated so that their sales funnels operate flawlessly. The platform uses a fully working shopping cart in addition to checkout tools that will allow you to produce coupon codes and offer discounts in order to improve conversions. And a lot more, the user interface enables all of these tasks and more to be done from one page which means you do not need to change taps to complete several tasks. It is designed to perform as an inclusive platform for sales and marketing, however it lacks the feasibility needed by smaller business and startups. Even more, with a cost of $699 and more, it is not affordable for company who are working with a limited marketing budget plan. So while Click Funnels is not a precise replica of Infusionsoft that would change its’ use for enterprise and medium-sized businesses, Click Funnels is economical, extremely practical offers a plethora of tools that are displayed on a smooth control panel that is easy to utilize. Can Click Funnels Replace Infusionsoft Click Funnels work with Shopify Click Funnels is not built to integrate with Shopify. However by utilizing integrating Click Funnels with Zapier- which does have a direct interaction with the Shopify platform- online shopkeeper can automate all aspects of their sales funnel. With Click Funnels and Zapier integration, you can:- connect Shopify with Click Funnels,-use new Click Funnels contacts to produce Trello cards,-use brand-new Click Funnels contacts to produce Podio contacts-set up Gmail autoresponders to be sent out to new contacts and purchasing customers-register brand-new click funnel contacts for webinar series-import click funnel orders into Google sheets-automate the creation of billings for brand-new click funnel contacts, and-update Mail Chimp subscribers list based upon click funnel activity. He is highly respected in the marketing market and known for being one of the couple of marketing experts who has the uncommon ability to use marketing analytics to produce a thoroughly developed, high-converting sales campaign- and then additional analyzes the resulting traffic in order to bolt the campaign till it becomes a proverbial cash cow. And with a following of more than 1 million business owners and numerous countless his books offered, Brunson does not just have a competitive advantage in the marketing industry, that is related to as among the industry’s leading professionals. Who Owns Click Funnels to utilize Click Funnels Click Funnels supply a directed procedure for clients to be introduced to your item and business while delivering marketing materials that converts possible clients into interested leads that select to opt-in to receiving extra messages from you. With an advertisement and a marketing platform such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, Click Funnels is used to produce a.\| to the pages. We have actually never ever had a concern with sending out more than that before!Click Funnels Platinum (Previously Etison Suite) – $297You get everything discussed above but unrestricted. Prices for this Etison strategy is $297. Since September 2019, you likewise get access to Funnelflix with BOTH shared and Platinum strategies. Share Funnel Strategy – $19edit: since September 2019, the share funnel strategy is no longer offered. This is where most newbies journey up and get delighted, however do not get too thrilled right now. What this means is somebody has created a funnnel and they have chosen to share it with you. While this sounds terrific in theory, you can just modify the funnel they provide you. It is an extremely minimal plan. We do not suggest you register to this plan unless you understand EXACTLY what you are getting and you make sure the actions are going to work for you. What Is Click Funnels Platinum So what is the Click Funnels Platinum member You know, there’s 2 various tiers inside of click phones right now you can pay if you pay $97 a month they get access to Click Funnels, and we have a tier $297 (Etison) which offers you access to a whole bunch more things. anybody who’s a who’s a Click Funnels Platinum members, What if we get an access to nearly all these trainings down listed below free of charge Now what’s interesting is you look down below, you’ll see a whole bunch of different training courses down listed below courses that Russel sold in the past for anywhere from $500 to $1,000. So within funnelflix, you’re actually getting access to things that other people have actually needed to pay 10’s of thousands of dollars for you get free of charge when you Click Funnels Platinum member there’s an entire bunch of other amazing things as well so I do not have time to enter into all of it. Okay if you’re stuck like “I can’t get motivated How do I how do I get more motivation so I can really prosper I can guarantee you inside Tony Robbins course he’s going to teach you exactly how to get the motivation that frame of mind you require to be successful. There’s numerous different trainings on funnel structure within there, possibly have a funnel but it’s not transforming Okay, go through the training, teaching how to sell how to speak how to do videos. However the only method you access to all this things you can’t pay for it. Like if you gave me cash right now I wouldn’t even take it. There’s many of these courses not for sale anywhere unless we accredit them from someone else. If you wish to access all of them for free, all you got ta do is upgrade to our Click Funnels Platinum level today not just their training courses also documentaries help inspire you get you delighted about your role as an entrepreneur.\| What Is Funnelflix So what is funnel flix This is a new feature added to Click Funnels that can help alter your service. So let me discuss exactly what it is. In the past, Russel Brunson and the team found that individuals who have the most success are not people who just signed for an account start utilizing it, however it is individuals who signed for the account, but they understand the technique, understand funnel structure, understand, well the essentials like what does a funnel look like What is the funnel cake for my particular business What are the videos and the copy and you place on the pages and how to actually drive traffic And after that how do I get out of my own head so we wont get stuck with the mind video games that happened as a business owner. They were going to training programs or buying courses and all sorts of things. And those that people had the most success and Russell thought, “Guy, there’s so numerous of our members who would have success, they do not have access to all these other resources.” And so a little while earlier, the team sat down stated what if we might brainstorm a way to get access to all these remarkable training and programs and courses and give them to our Click Funnels members for totally free. Clickfunnels desires to certify these courses from you and those things clearly aren’t inexpensive when it’s the services and products they sell every day on their websites therefore we relaxed and we determined a way to do it and if you look down below you’ll see gain access to that you’ll see the courses you’ll get instant access to as quickly as you end up being a Click Funnels Platinum member. Exists A Clickfunnels Benefit Or Coupon What if I told you a manner in which you might save $47 monthly from the Etison suite I make certain that’s something you would have an interest in. Well its quite simple, all you need to do is to buy Funnel Contractor Tricks for 12 months. The very best offer is the 12 month choice. Never pay complete price for a sales funnel builder again!Clickfunnels FAQWe have actually assembled a list of the most often asked questions about the Clickfunnels software. Is Clickfunnels A Pyramid Plan The initial question to this would be discovering out if Click Funnels is safe and we can say that without a shadow of a doubt that with all it’s users, evaluations, popularity and assistance that it is safe. However with this in mind, the next rational action would be asking if Clickfunnels is a pyramid scheme Well firstly let’s specify what a pyramid scheme is to clarity how Clickfunnels suits to all of this. Normally with a pyramid plan or MLM, the cash the company makes originates from hiring brand-new member and the earnings basically originate from those brand-new members that register. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off A 2nd issue you might have is discovering if Clickfunnels is a Ponzi plan, that being where the only method you can generate income would be from including new members and them contributing cash. I can inform you that neither of these are even close to what Clickfunnels is and offers. How this varies from a pyramid scheme is the cash comes from outside users of the platform, NOT the affiliates. There are likewise talks of eliminating the tier 2 commission from their affiliate program to distance themselves from ever being called an MLM.Is Clickfunnels Legit When you create a great concept and you’re looking at how to sell and market yourself online you might find yourself looking for a quality website that provides all rounded options and functions. Discovering out what is legitimate vs what is a fraud on the web can be difficult and we wouldn’t blame you for having doubts. As such we know one evaluation on Clickfunnels mightn’t change your mind so we encourage you to look at the data. It’s a business with over 80,000 members and 2.5 million search engine result connected to its name, it also have well over 200,000 likes on their official Facebook page with a very active neighborhood. Why Is Clickfunnels So Expensive Something we get asked for our review is why Clickfunnels rates is so much As discussed before Clickfunnels is a large company with over 100 employees and much of its work outsourced as it’s an all online business. When you pay them your money is not just used to pay these staff members in locations such as assistance, research & advancement and design but also the physical cost to host your site and spend for things such as SSL security. It’s easy to become quickly overwhelmed by the work involved and the expense of everything especially when initially beginning out and checking out beginning your own site. Depending upon your needs and what you’re offering will determine if Clickfunnels or a standard website is best for you. So now it just comes down to cost.\| It provides such a wide range of choices and versatility to its users that it has market share by popularity alone. It is for this reason a knock on impact has occurred and now handles to market itself just by existing. It has extremely competitive pricing, began early on to produce an excellent grip and filled a gap in the internet marketing industry. And this is where they have handled to end up being so popular, where numerous online affiliate programs pay 1-5% of the sale to an online marketer, Clickfunnels provides a massive 40% commission! With this in location it has developed an extremely competitive market for online marketers to sell the product and create the best, reputable and as much as date reviews to capture the attention of possible customers. Normally a CRM will have have all the details of your customer on file, just how much each client spends with your company, KPI’s etc. Treating each customer as an individual is what a Client Relationship Management System CRM is finest for. Clickfunnels is mainly focused on front email sales. In this case while it may appear like that its a Clickfunnels CRM, It’s not going to replace your entire organisation system. It does not matter who you select as a sales funnel home builder, most of the time you’re going to Incorporate to a 3rd celebration platform for this. It should not be a buying choice when choosing the very best sales funnel software application. Can I Utilize My Own Email Autoresponder Maybe you currently have an existing e-mail list, automations etc and you don’t wish to utilize Actionetics, Can you utilize your own e-mail responder with Clickfunnels. Clickfunnels supports lots of 3rd Celebration Integrations with the majority of the major autoresponder software application. List Of Autoresponder Combinations For Clickfunnels Here is a list of 3rd Celebration Email Vehicle responders straight compatible with Clickfunnels API.My Email Service Is Not Noted, Can I Use SMTPYES. Clickfunnels permits you to integrate with an SMTP service to send your e-mails using platforms such as Mailgun, Mandrill, Sendgrid, Sparkpost. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off How Is The Assistance We have personally found that Clickfunnels assistance is a little slow. This is however not really that much of an issue as the software is simple to use, and it is way quicker to get assistance from among the many Clickfunnels facebook groups. Recently they have actually hired some more support personnel so customer care will be going up. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off. This shouldn’t be an acquiring decision as its really basic to use and is normally not needed anyhow. They also have actually just recently been working on their own guides to assist you. This is just one way they are still pressing their brand forward and making their sales funnel builder software application better!. They actually do provide you everything you require to develop a sustainable organisation. Can I See A Clickfunnels Example Funnel There is no better location to see a Clickfunnels example funnel than the Clickfunnels homepage itself! This is a prime example of a test funnel with micro dedications. What Are Some Clickfunnels Alternatives While we use and like Clickfunnels. What fits our requirements, might not match yours. So check these out instead. Builderall Right now, we feel Builderall is the number 1 Clickfunnels competitor. There is a Builderall 3.0 coming out soon that is going to trigger some interruption we feel. This is worth checking out if you’re on a budget. Leadpages Leadpages comes in as a close 2nd Clickfunnels rival. While Leadpages does mostly the exact same thing as Clickfunnels, we discover the function set rather doing not have. They are better on pricing however. We have a full compose up on Leadpages VS Clickfunnels you can read here. Flourish Themes If you are searching for a more customized method, Prosper Styles is going to be your landing page tool of option. This is finest delegated professional site contractors. Have a look at our full Thrive Themes review here to see if its right for you. Ontraport Ontraport is a terrific choice for its landing page templates. We believe they are remarkable. It also handles more of the company side of things that Clickfunnels does not. We have a full breakdown of Ontraport VS Clickfunnels here. What Are The Pro Of Clickfunnels There are lots of pros to this sales funnel builder software application, however here are a couple of benefits to using Clickfunnels. Easy and Simple to Use Click Funnels make it easy and simple to total sales and marketing funnels intends for all kind of business entity. Click Funnels is very useful and easy to utilize and implement. Prebuilt Sales Funnels Click Funnels allows end users to handle a variety of prebuilt marketing and sales funnels. All things that have actually to be executed are chosen to meet the specific needs of the user. You are used a vast array of pre-built funnels to choose from.\| Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off Conserve Money and Time Click Funnels allows you to save money, effort and time when organizing marketing and sales funnels from the start. It makes it simple for you to set up sales and marketing funnels. Click Funnels likewise accelerate the A/B split testing phases as users do not have to secure the web design template that are not working. Suitable for Web marketing Click Funnels is very handy when it concerns selling, marketing or delivering product or services online. It is also best platform for gathering sales and market leads. Handle Your Sales The software application helps you promote and construct your customer base throughout the world by providing physical or digital items or services Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off. Simple and Quality Website design Click Funnels removes the requirement for lots of other organisation entities and 3rd parties to incorporate with your website. It enables you to create, develop and produce websites dedicated to marketing your products. Several Applications Click Funnels permits you to develop all kinds of different application, created to increase the volume of prospective sales. A/B Split Testing After choosing your sales funnel, you need to have a design template. Click Funnels provides you lots of kinds of design templates, and all of them are tested and proven to work. They also have a full book on split screening called 108 Proven Split Test Winners. With checked and shown templates at hand, the platform speeds your A/B testing phase as you do not need to lose time weeding out templates that aren’t carrying out. We would enjoy to speak with you!It Focuses on Lots of Areas Click Funnels provides a varied selection of functions. Hence, it doesn’t excel in one single category as it is created to handle every element of your sales procedure. Not That Much Personalization Although Click Funnels assists you develop simple landing pages, it does not have the level of personalization used by Lead Pages home builder. Who Utilizes Clickfunnels What is Clickfunnels and who utilizes it. The platform is perfect for anybody seeking to offer products online. There are numerous kinds of internet marketers, different specific niches and items. Click Funnels is particularly designed to help you offer your products or services, regardless of who your audience is. However it does not stop there. You can develop a subscription site, collect emails and offer products. Most online businesses will certainly love the different funnels this platform needs to provide. Here are some of the leading products you can offer according to the Click Funnels landing page: Info E-Commerce Retail Services Company 2 Service Webinars Subscription Websites Really it all comes down to how innovative you are. It really depends. But since its so simple to use, you can create any of these quickly!Final Clickfunnels Review Verdict I truly hope this evaluation answers what you are searching for. If you were questioning is Clickfunnels worth it The answer is YES. Click Funnels is a trustworthy software that allows you create landing pages, sales pages inside the sales funnels that individuals have to browse through so to a take the wanted action, such as buy items. Click the button below to get yourself a 2 week complimentary trial and test it for yourself! We hope you enjoyed our Clickfunnels Evaluation and we hope it explained What is Clickfunnels! If you have any concerns about the tool or our review, then make sure you leave a comment below.\| None of these are tough to do due to the fact that Click Funnels makes the platform simple to use. Click Funnels for Real Estate Agents You Tube can Click Funnels for amazon help affiliates Affiliate marketers typically use landing pages in order to build an e-mail list, however because the platform offers far more than landing page production, Click Funnels can do more. When a client buys from Amazon by way of an affiliate online marketer, they become a customer of Amazon- not the online marketer. By utilizing landing pages, they can collect their consumer’s contact info, gather purchase details to provide analytics, create membership plans to create passive earnings and follow up with buyers with e-mail campaigns in order to motivate repeat sales. You can offer several order fulfillment alternatives so that buyers have more alternatives for receiving their products. You can accept Paypal as a form of payment, which is a big deal due to the fact that Amazon is a rival of Paypal so they do not support Paypal payments. But this is crucial to affiliate online marketers because being able to accept Paypal payments increases your revenue by as much as 27%. With even more tools available to increase conversions and sales, Click Funnels offers an informative and actionable method to produce several affiliate marketing projects and automate the majority of the sales procedure without compromising quality. How To Use Click Funnels For Affiliate Online Marketers- does Click Funnels for chiropractors work Chiropractors, simply like any other profession, can benefit from sales funnels by drawing in brand-new leads from various places. It is very effective to use helpful messages to draw in leads. Landing pages will not only assist to market your message to the best clients, but it makes the process easy. As soon as you have actually leads accumulated, Click Funnels has tools that enable users to nurture each of the person leads to that you can continuously feed additional helpful messages in order to convert leads into engaging customers Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off. Clickfunnels Promo Online Coupons 20 Off And as your consumer base grows, Click Funnels will help you to remain engaged with your customers and provide personalized messages that make them feel as if you’re communicating straight with them. By adding a personal touch to your messages, you can utilize Click Funnels is an effective marketing platform that will help distinguish you from the typical chiropractor in your location. When legal counsel is needed, many customers are in a rush to discover an attorney quickly, so they utilize search engines to browse for a few lawyers, submitted a couple of contact types, then await the phone to ring. In most cases, the first legal representative to return their call is the attorney that gets hired. And since there are some cases where an individual ends up trying to find another legal representative after deciding that their first contact may not use what they require, you want to be next in line, prepared to secure their business. Click Funnels enables attorneys to release multiple landing pages in different places online so that their marketing materials can be discovered quickly. And when following up with them, the Click Funnels platform enables you to set up autoresponders that guarantee that responses are sent out instantly after the contact kind has actually been completed. Furthermore, leads are nurtured and certified through the sales funnels. Because you can customize landing pages to be used as client intake types, you can utilize Click Funnels as a way to filter strong perspectives from time wasters or cases that are not worth your time. And when you do speak with them, they will currently have the frame of mind for proceeding with maintaining you as their lawyer. Finally, the sales funnel will keep up with each of your customers so that no one slips through the cracks in becomes neglected unintentionally. It makes sure that you are following up consistently with your leads, tracking interaction between you and them, and helping you to track how your leads are advancing through the sales funnel. This allows you to identify what might be turning potential clients away, and then make adjustments in order to boost the effectiveness of your project. After a while, you will have tweak your sales funnel so that your conversions are maximized and your flow of customers is consistent and steady
The day is bright and sunny. I walk into the café, accept the coffee I order, and choose a table by the windows, setting my handbag down on a vacant chair. I would get a sandwich too, since this is my lunch break, but I have lost my appetite forever ago. I blow at my drink to cool it down and take a sip. The warm liquid glides smoothly down my throat. It is refreshing, creamy, and delicious. This is the only time during the course of my day when I can be truly alone and try and forget about everything and everyone and think about nothing. But, it seems like today might not be one of those days. As soon as I sit down, I am robbed of any peace of mind I could hope for. Right next to my handbag, I see that horrid thing has appeared out of nowhere: the knife, blood-stained and covered in my blue silk scarf. My heart pounds. It wasn’t there a second ago. The muscles in the back of my neck tighten, and I nearly forget how to breathe. Stiffly, I train my gaze outside, onto the busy streets, focusing on anything but that horrible thing. The people hustling. The hawkers shouting. The homeless begging. But I can’t stop thinking about it. Why does this keep happening? Why? I don’t know when this will stop. It follows me, taunts me, haunts me, catching me off guard every single time. And I can’t bring myself to look at it. This is my own personal ghost. I wish it would leave me alone. It always makes me want to cry. That’s what I want to do the most right now: cry. But I have learned to control it. If I ignore it long enough, it will go away. It always does. It will go away. It will go away. It always does. Please. Ten agonizing minutes later, only when I am done with my coffee, I dare to look again. Holding my breath, I strain my eyes back to my handbag, and that horrid thing beside it nowhere to be found. My breath rushes out automatically, but I am still tensed. I shouldn’t dwell on this anymore. I can’t let it derail my day. I decide to leave the café and walk back to work. My lunch break is almost up anyway. The gallery is filled with stunning works of art, dazzling colours splattered across the walls around me. But even at my place of work, happiness or comfort are not my refuges. Like my appetite, it is another thing that I have lost over time: the ability to dream. I find it hard to lose myself in these paintings that would once help me escape to different, more exciting worlds. They seem lifeless and dull now. Through my eyes, at least. Perhaps that is why I haven’t been able to sell a single piece this month. I am afraid I might lose my job over this, and then where would I be? This already feels like rock bottom. There cannot possibly be anything lower than this. My colleagues, my friends, often ask me why I look so lost, spaced-out, whether everything is all right, if I need to see the doctor and how my absent-mindedness makes me put on the wrong kinds of clothes in the wrong weather. But that’s not absent-mindedness. It’s purposeful. But I can’t tell them that. It doesn’t matter, because all that I ever give them is lies. I cannot unload the truth onto them. It is my secret. It is my fight. A fight that I am losing, but mine alone. I do wish I could tell. There is a chance that it would help right everything that is wrong. But I cannot, because there is also a chance that I would get into deeper trouble. I must suffer this alone. I must take it to my grave. This is my life now. Full of dread and danger. Thinking about all this, about the burden that crushes me, makes my eyes prick with water. I rush frantically to the washroom for privacy. Before anyone of my colleagues can see the tears well up in my eyes, I get safely inside. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, and I look scared. I look more scared and more broken than I was the day before. Only, this is not me. This is someone who is giving up, who is drowning and doesn’t have any fight left in her. This is someone who is living with a terrible secret that is slowly killing her. I blink the tears from my eyes as they streak my cheeks on their way down. I don’t want to be this person anymore. I am tired of her. I want to be me again. Maybe I should wet my face a bit; that might wash away this deadened person that I have become and show me who I really am. Who I used to be. I reach for the tap to turn it on, and I gasp, whipping my hand back reflexively. Because lying in the sink is the horrid knife: blood-stained and covered in my blue silk scarf. It’s back. A scream starts to launch from my mouth, and I have to slap a hand against it to cut it off. Stumbling back into the door, I slide down against it, whimpering. But the sound is just building in my chest, like water ranging against a closed dam. It is excruciating, my throat burning like it’s on fire. Suppressing it is pointless and more painful than the alternative, so I let go, let it all out and scream into my hand. The screaming gives way to shuddering, which gives way to sobs. My entire body shudders from the core in a bout of crying I am not the least ashamed of. If it were up to me, I would not get up from the floor, but stay here till the end of time. But I know I mustn’t. It will arouse suspicion. Many minutes pass before I am able to do it, but even then I have not stopped shaking. My cheeks are too damp, my eyes too raw-looking. I don’t think I can keep myself from screaming again if that thing in the sink is not gone after all this time, but when I check, I see that it has. It’s gone, but it will return. That I know for sure. I fix my face in the mirror, straighten my clothes, and get myself out of the washroom as quick as I can. I don’t know how I survive the rest of the day, but against all odds I do. When I clock out in the evening, I take a taxi. My heart-rate climbs higher and higher the closer the get home. At the front door, I gingerly turn the key in the lock of the front door, not making a sound. And when I step in, I see only darkness. Good. My husband is not home yet. But where that should make me feel better, give me sigh of relief that I will have some time to myself, it doesn’t. It only gives a new lease to my panic. He won’t be happy if I squander this extra time that I have. I shouldn’t waste even a second of it. I have to get the dinner ready and lay out the table. My hands quake as I go about everything, but I push through it, knowing that if I don’t I will regret it. And I don’t want to regret it. I don’t. I really don’t. When the clock strikes seven, the front door unlocks right on the hour. My husband walks in. No, he stumbles in. I don’t need to be near him to smell it. Even from across the room I can. Whisky. No less than three doubles. The first thing he does, as is his wont, is head to the fridge to pull out a beer. My scalp prickles with fear when he enters the kitchen. I cannot be around him when he’s in this state, so I softly welcome him home, then duck my head and shuffle out of the kitchen, heading for the bedroom. When I get there I sit at the dresser and pretend that I have something to do here. In the mirror, I study how my lips have started to wobble. I won’t cry, I can’t, yet my body is anticipating it. I can’t seem to put a stop to it, no matter how much I try to steel my nerves. I also notice how my neck doesn’t seem as red as it was this morning. I crane my head to get a clear view of the bruises that streak my skin under my chin and ears. More flesh coloured now. They are healing, slowly. Usually, my scarf would cover the damage, but I am home now and there is no need for that. The scars on my arms are taking longer to heal and they keep me up almost every night, smarting with an electric pain. Cigarette burns are worse, I suppose, as opposed to brutal rough hands. I must wear long sleeves during the day, even when it is sweltering outside. I sweat profusely, but what other choice do I have? I make a silent prayer to every God, any God, that is willing to listen to me. I don’t want new scars. I don’t want new marks that I have to cover up when I go out. What I want tonight is to be spared. Just one night. One. Tonight. Please. I don’t know what makes me do it, but perhaps subconsciously, I reach for the top drawer of the dresser and pull it open just an inch. Through the opening, I can see some of the blue fabric lying inside, and wrapped inside it is that horrid thing. Long ago, I thought stashing it here, close at hand, would make me feel safe, plant a seed of strength and courage that would grow and blossom, see fruition, one day. But who am I kidding? I will never be a hero. There have been many opportunities when I could have used it, but I have never dared pick it up in defence. It makes sense, because courage isn’t what I have now. Once, long ago, I used to, but not anymore. All that I know now is fear. Crippling, shattering, paralyzing fear. Suddenly, the door bursts open, and I jump to my feet, turning to see my husband leaning against the doorway, unable to support himself upright. He burps. He hollers something across the room, but it is unintelligible to me, his speech sluggish and slurred. When I don’t respond, he grunts and staggers into the room, lurching with every footstep. He repeats himself and this time I hear it clearly. He says he wants to make love tonight. I swallow, hard. He looms over me, and a chill runs down my spine, into my very toes. His breath is sour; I flinch from it. He takes one last swig from the beer bottle and then tosses it over his shoulder. I hear it, but do not see it, shatter on the floor, into many tiny pieces. I will have to clean that up later. A hand shoots out and grabs me roughly by the neck. I gasp, looking up into my husband’s soulless eyes. They are bloodshot and dancing with manic energy. Didn’t you hear me? he hisses. He wants to make love right now. I keep my arms limp at my side–if I even so much as twitched them, I will die. I know it. I squirm, start to tell him that perhaps we should eat dinner first, my voice strangled in his grasp. Before I even finish speaking, his face darkens. He swings his free hand across my face. I failed to see it coming, and my face is so desensitized I can hardly feel the pain, but it knocked the breath out of me and I struggle to drag it back in. There will also no doubt be a fresh mark on my face in the morning. But this is worse because make-up won’t cover it. I will have to call in sick. Maybe for a few days. Did I say I want to eat? he snaps. He wraps both hands around my neck now, squeezing my throat. I can’t open my mouth, but I can still shake my head in response, though barely. A tight pressure builds in my head, and I start to feel dizzy, though I’m not moving at all. My eye-sight wanes. I know I should give him what he wants without another word. That is the logical part of me speaking. Before he can wrench me by the hand, mark me black and blue and drag me there by my hair, I should undress and lie on the bed and let him take me. Like always. There will be less plain, I will be obedient and he will be satisfied. I know this, but all that I do is nothing. Like always. Why? Why can’t I say no and defy this man? Why am I being so irrational? In my peripheral vision, as everything grows dim, I catch a glimpse of the mirror, and I hate the person I am looking at. My husband was not this man before we married. I loved him once. He was kind, loving, considerate, but that does not concern me now, because I do not hate him. The person I hate is this woman; this woman who allows herself to be used and abused time and time again with no intention of improving her situation. It is this woman who deserves my hate. This sad, pathetic woman who is being strangled to within an inch of her life because she is so scared of the possibility that something might happen if she lifted a finger. I do not even pity her. How can I? You can only pity the helpless. And the thing is, this is not new. This man has done this before. And he will keep doing it night after night, over and over again, mistaking this woman’s silence for submission in a vicious cycle as she waits for something to change, until she can wait no more and runs out of time. Which is why she must decide to stop submitting, and rise. And she does. More than anything, she wants to rise. And that’s when I realize it: doesn’t my reluctance to say yes already qualify as an act of defiance? Of course. Of course it does. My vision nearly going dark, I reach behind me and go by feeling. I slip my hand into the open drawer. I feel the smoothness of the silk under my fingertips, and beneath that, my secret weapon. Gritting my teeth, I close my fingers around the handle and lift it out. I don’t think about it. I just do it. For the first time in my life, I retaliate. I thrust the knife blindly, without looking, without aiming, without caring. My husband screams in my face, a tortured scream; his eyes pop out of their sockets. The blade has sliced deep down the length of his forearm, cleaving the flesh with a sound I can almost hear, a sound that almost sounds gratifying. He grimaces as the shock twists his features and his fingers spring open, releasing me. Spluttering, I massage my stinging neck; his fingernails had dug deep. He reels back, clutches his arm to staunch the bleeding, stunned. It is written across his face: pure disbelief; he can’t wrap his addled mind around it. I am sure the same expression is written across my face as well. For a small fraction of a second I am too frightened by my own doing, though I don’t regret it, so afraid that I have just made things worse for myself that my fingers spring open nervously. The knife falls and hits the floor with a metallic clang. I expect him to fight back, to make me pay for what I just did, but he doesn’t. Instead, slowly, shakily, dazedly, he teeters to the corner of the room. His arm is wet and his fingers slick red, blood dripping freely over the floor. He trips over his own feet and collapses backward, writhing and bursting into tears. I watch him whimper and moan like a wounded animal. I stare at him, amazed, unable to look away. I cannot describe him properly now, because I have never seen him like this, so small and weak and frail. Pathetic. When he looks up at me, I meet his teary eyes, holding his gaze, and for the first time in ten years, I see them filled with something I am all too familiar with. Crippling, shattering, paralyzing fear. As I stand numb and dizzy, yet somehow in control, the dynamics between us realign. I feel a smile inch across my face. My eyes drift to the piece of glinting metal on the floor between us. Finally, that thing has become what it always wanted to be: blood-stained and covered in my blue silk scarf. © Amaan Khan, May 24, 2018.
What’s your policy on children? A party-by-party guide In advance of next week’s local and European elections, we look at parties’ child poverty initiatives When our political parties are asked about child poverty much is revealed in their answers No Child 2020 is a new initiative by The Irish Times, providing a sustained focus on child welfare and children’s issues over the coming year. Inspired by the democratic programme issued by the first Dáil a century ago, we explore the problems facing children in Ireland today and offer solutions that would make this a better country to be a child. Ending child poverty should be an easy political promise to keep, right? As wholesome an aspiration as motherhood and apple pie. One no voter could possibly disagree with. You’d think. So why, 100 years on from the first Dáil’s declaration that “no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter”, are our politics allowing still over 220,000 of our children to live in poverty? When our political parties are asked this, and what they propose to do about it, much is revealed in their answers. To lift children out of poverty, we must support their communities, their families and their parents – many of them single parents, Travellers, asylum seekers or living in the most disadvantaged areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and rural Ireland – out of poverty too. This is an entirely different, more complex and highly contentious proposition politically than simply rescuing children from poverty. Speaking to the main political parties, there appear to be two political approaches: ameliorating the worst effects of poverty on children with targeted strategies in the hope they as individuals will be empowered to lift themselves out of poverty; or addressing social inequalities generally to empower whole communities to escape it. Ideological differences around the responsibilities of individuals for their own lives on one hand, and our responsibilities of society towards all of us on the other hand, result in different political choices. And while no party is likely to oppose measures offered by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to mitigate poverty’s worst impacts on children, some of the more radical approaches of the centre-left and left parties to tackle inequalities in housing, health and education would likely face vehement opposition. The NoChild2020 initiative – a sustained editorial focus on child welfare by The Irish Times, and a parallel campaign for political change by the Children’s Rights Alliance – has five “asks”, under five headings: Food – No child should be hungry Shelter – None should be homeless Health – None should be without access to timely, affordable healthcare Education – No one should be blocked from having an education Participation – None should be excluded from society The Government party, Fine Gael, says the “key objectives of NoChild2020 will be reflected” in the forthcoming Social Inclusion: an integrated strategy for 2019-2025. It points to Government strategies – some at proposal stage – to address specific issues. On food poverty, estimated in 2015 to affect about 140,000 children, the party says funding is already provided for a breakfast for all children, and for lunch for 90 per cent of children, in Deis (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools. A pilot scheme, to provide funding for schools to source daily, hot school-meals for all primary school children from September 2020, will start from this September in 36 schools. Fine Gael has a mission to make home ownership affordable for the thousands for whom it remains out of reach. Under its Rebuilding Ireland strategy 35,000 new private and public homes a year will be built from next year. It says it will provide (not necessarily build) 12,000 new social housing units a year by 2021 (4,000 per year) “through new builds, renovations, acquisitions and long-term leasing”. A new agreement will see a 40 per cent funding increase to GPs between now and 2023, meaning more services and free GP access for all under-12s. In education – “a priority area” – there will be a 5 per cent increase in schools’ capitation grants, while schools will be asked to reduce costs to parents. Fianna Fáil too “supports a number of measures to tackle child poverty” including increasing welfare payments to children and reform of the One Parent Family Payment. The party appears to accept homelessness as a feature of many children’s lives for some time to come, with several policies to mitigate its worst effects. It proposes a ring-fenced fund for schools to support homeless children with additional tuition, homework clubs and psychological supports; an exceptional needs payment for homeless families, and that all emergency accommodation should have adequate facilities for food preparation and storage. Fianna Fáil says it will deliver (not necessarily build) 50,000 new social housing units by 2024 (5,000 per year) and increase investment in early intervention services. Social Democrats, Greens, Labour Moving left, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Labour want more public involvement in the delivery of housing, education and healthcare. Both the Soc Dems and the Greens support a referendum to insert a right to housing in the Constitution, while all three want a significant shift from the private sector to deliver social housing – “to a system that is led by public interests” (Soc Dems), “specific inclusion of the rights of people with disabilities in housing policies” (Greens) and greater obligations on local authorities to vindicate children rights in homelessness policies (Labour). Labour would build 80,000 units of public housing in five years (16,000 per year). The Greens plan to “take on food poverty by firstly ending poverty, including through . . . the creation of a universal basic income”. The three parties support and would extend the free school meals programmes, and Labour would have these provided directly to the schools by local authorities (as happens in Finland). In education, rather than advise schools on how to reduce costs, the parties would reduce costs to parents as policy – with the Soc Dems “committed to introducing free primary and secondary education”; Labour allocating €20 million a year to begin providing free school books at primary and planning to prohibit “voluntary” contributions, and, the Greens allocating €230 million for a fully free primary and secondary education – covering books, uniform, after-school activities etc. In health, all three are committed to the 2017 Sláintecare plan published by the Oireachtas health committee. The 10-year plan promises to hugely expand community and primary care services, do away with the need for private health insurance and significantly reduce waiting lists. The three agree disadvantaged children’s and young people’s access to the arts and sports is too often closed by cost. The Soc Dems would increase investment in community facilities; the Greens say its €230 million investment in free education would include wide access to arts and sports through schools, while Labour pledges promotion of the “European culture cheque” concept – vouchers giving free access to all young people in the EU to cultural events and venues. People Before Profit/Solidarity People Before Profit/Solidarity have far-reaching plans for tackling the inequalities under-pinning our stubborn levels of child poverty. They would also cost the most. Perhaps their least controversial policies would be in tackling children’s food poverty and increasing participation in arts and sports. They would provide free hot meals to all children, during the school year and during holidays (as is done through parks-playgrounds’ kitchens in Finland) – to protect against “holiday hunger”. They would “increase significantly basic social welfare rates to meet the basic cost of living and establish a living wage of at least €12 per hour”. They would embark on an “emergency programme of constructing tens of thousands of local authority housing units, to eliminate housing waiting lists” (estimated at more than 100,000). They would “ensure free primary, secondary and third-level education”. This would mean free school books, free school activities and private schools and colleges could no longer charge fees. They would establish a fully-public National Childcare Service, guaranteeing access to childcare, initially at an affordable cost and, eventually, for free. In health they would establish a national health service to “ensure free, universal access healthcare based on need”. Staffing levels in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services would be increased to the levels set out in the 2006 Vision for Change strategy for mental health. These would require higher and new taxes, including higher corporation taxes. At a political gathering, attended by all political parties and hosted by the Children’s Rights Alliance last week, there was unanimity that a three-year national strategy led by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, was needed to eradicate consistent poverty among children. It would require input from all Government departments and mandatory deadlines for action. Such collective action is needed if we are serious about tackling child poverty – if only so that no one party, or minister, has to face down the likely resistance to the necessary actions on their own. Ending child poverty is not as politically popular as we might wish. The Independents4Change failed to respond to repeated requests from The Irish Times for their policies on child poverty Parties’ policies for children - Funding to provide a hot meal for every primary school child from September 2020 - Provide 12,000 new units of social housing by 2021 - Free GP care for all under-12s in next four years - Plan free oral care for under-6s from next year - Increase capitation grants to schools by five per cent - Increasing welfare payments to children - Reform of the One Parent Family Payment - Schools fund to support homeless children with additional tuition, homework clubs and psychological supports - Exceptional needs payment for homeless families - Food preparation and storage areas in emergency accommodation - 50,000 new social housing units by 2024 - Constitutional referendum to establish a right to housing, significant land reform and increase tenants’ rights - Introduce genuinely free primary and secondary education - Fully implement Sláintecare to equalise access to healthcare - Increase arts and sports funding for children and young people - Universal basic income - Hot meal every day for every schoolchild - Hold referendum on the right to housing, move to public-led housing policy, and time-limit how long homeless families stay in emergency accommodation. - €230 million to provide genuinely free primary and secondary education - Teaching assistant with special needs training in every class junior infants to 1st class. - Fully implement Sláintecare plan in health policy - Local authorities to provide daily, hot school-meals for every child in their area - Build 80,000 units of public housing by investing €16 billion over five years - Prioritise best interests of children of homeless families in emergency accommodation - Free school books and ensure education genuinely free - Ban “voluntary donations” - Free GP-care to all under-18s - A voucher for all children to access arts People Before Profit/Solidarity - Living wage of €12 an hour - Hot meal a day year-round to all schoolchildren - 5,000 artists to work in every school/youth club to expose children to arts - Emergency programme of public housing construction - Referendum on the right to housing - Ensure free education from pre-school to third level - Establish a National Childcare Service, affordable to all and eventually free
The must-have competencies of agile leaders According to the results of the research, agile leaders are Humble, Adaptable, Visionary and Engaged. These must-have competencies inform their business-focused actions. In an age of rapid change, knowing what you don’t know can be as valuable as knowing what you do. Agile leaders must be open, willing to learn, and seek input from both inside and outside their organizations. They also need to trust others who know more than they do. Humility is what most leaders should aspire to. Discovery Event Participant Being humble in one’s approach to leadership may sound inconsistent with the requirement to project an image of confidence and authority. However, we do not regard humility as an abdication of the need to provide a strong vision and positive direction, but as an acknowledgement that the current speed of change outstrips any leader’s personal store of knowledge or experience. Accepting that a single person cannot know everything needed to make a decision is a critical component of agile leadership. Humble was the key insight. Discovery Event Participant We regard being adaptable as an acceptance that change is constant and that changing one’s mind based on new information is a strength rather than a weakness. Focused adaptability based on new information is a distinct competency, unlike random vacillation. Agile leaders adapt their behavior in the short term based on their ability to make evidence-based decisions. Adaptable leaders are not afraid to change their mind in front of their teams. Discovery Event Participant Being adaptable is the key to success for both the organization and the agile leader. Rapid technology changes and the appearance of new digital competitors drive adaptability in leaders. We found that agile leaders are adept at dealing with complexity and less reluctant to change their minds in the face of new information. They are not afraid to commit to a new course of action when the situation warrants it. You have to be sure that you are able to correct wrong decisions or weak decisions. You have to be able to say, okay, yesterday I said left and today, based on this, we are going right. It has to not be a weakness for you. It is a necessity of the environment of today. Lothar Raif, Head of Banking Support, Credit Suisse Visionary in the context of agile leadership means having a clear sense of the long-term direction, even in the face of short-term uncertainty. In times of rapid technology and business model disruption, with opportunities opening up everywhere, a clear vision is even more critical. Agile leaders have a well-defined idea of where their organizations need to go, even if they do not know exactly how to get there. I think you have to be bolder as a leader because by definition disruption is bolder, you have to have the courage of your convictions... You have to wear your vision on your sleeve. Russell Quirk, CEO eMoov Being visionary is not restricted to digital disruptors; it is equally important for legacy organizations, where leaders need to define and clearly articulate long-term aims and objectives. For example, General Electric’s vision is to become the dominant player within the “Industrial Internet,” a term it coined, which is a major departure from the company’s traditional manufacturing roots. Agile leaders display a willingness to listen, interact and communicate with internal and external stakeholders and a strong interest and curiosity in emerging trends. In other words they are engaged. Whatever their hierarchical position, agile leaders are always engaged, be it with customers, partners, suppliers, team members, staff or the broader societal and industrial ecosystems. This desire to explore, discover, learn and discuss is as much a mindset as a definable set of business-focused activities. Listen and trust. This can’t be a half-hearted effort. Terry Bennett, Fortium Partners Essential behaviors of agile leadership Combining the must-have competencies with agile behaviors provides a powerful amplifying effect for agile leaders, making them significantly better equipped to deal with today’s disruptive business environments. The research identified three key behaviors that differentiated agile from non-agile leaders: hyperawareness, informed decision making and fast execution. Hyperaware agile leaders are focused on spotting emerging digital opportunities or competitive threats. They are engaged, seek new insights and adapt in response, but they are also aware of the need to provide guidance through a strong vision, as the potential for change threatens to overwhelm a linear strategy. Good leaders are constantly scanning their environments, both inside and outside their organizational boundaries. With technology-driven change accelerating across industries, the need for leaders to look outward, and not just at their competitors, is evident. There needs to be an everlasting radar, a high speed radar, where you constantly track the situation. Alexander Dahm – VP Head of Space Equipment Ops, Airbus Informed decision making For agile leaders, informed decision making fundamentally entails using available data to make evidence-based decisions. To do this, leaders need to engage; they must recognize and utilize the best data sources, apply appropriate analytics, and then make a decision. Faced with insufficient or even contradictory data, leaders must draw on their experience and intuition to move forward. I would say no data, no decisions. Informed decision making is becoming critical. Isabelle Perreault, Stratford Managers Informed decision making underpins a leader’s ability to adapt and support their long-term vision. Agile leaders who understand the value of using digital technologies to gather and analyze data are always on the lookout for new data sources to support informed decision making. A number of survey respondents noted the growing availability of public data along with social, mobile and other sources. Fast execution entails willingness on the part of a leader to move quickly, often valuing speed over perfection. In an environment characterized by significant disruption, the effectiveness of hyperawareness and informed decision making is significantly reduced if the organization is not able to act with speed. Ultimately, agile leaders will only be effective if they are able to quickly execute an informed decision. There are many barriers, be they organizational, fiscal, structural or cultural. One executive from a large incumbent told us, “You need to kill and hide bureaucracy … fast decision making means fewer signatures.” That’s adaptability in action. Size matters in execution terms, but agile leaders at every level in large incumbents identified fast execution as critical. What do you define as fast? For me, fast execution means, as soon as I come to a conclusion, then I execute. Emrah Göztürk, SVP, GEA Farm Technologies Agile leadership in Saas-Fee Agile leadership, with its must-have competencies and behaviors, is not restricted to large incumbents or disruptive technology players. The small Swiss alpine ski resort of Saas-Fee, famed for the James Bond ski chases, is an interesting example. In 2009 a local private investor and a group of residents took back ownership of Saas-Fee’s cableway company from a large foreign corporation in an attempt to strengthen the local economy. The company operates the ski lifts, manages ticketing, maintains the slopes, takes care of skier safety, and leases restaurants on the slopes to various restaurateurs. As the new owners, the local community became fully accountable for the resort’s success or failure. Local stakeholders felt a fresh start was needed to steer the newly acquired operations to success and in 2010 appointed Rainer Flaig as CEO based on his extensive industry experience. However, the early 2010s were difficult for the resort. A combination of aging equipment, high fixed costs and stiff competition led to a significant revenue decline. By 2015 Saas-Fee counted 35% fewer skier days than in 2007, and overnight stays were down by one-third. Competing Swiss ski resorts also suffered, but less acutely, with an average 26% decline in skier days. The strong Swiss franc coupled with the emergence of trendier and less-expensive resorts in Austria and France made it difficult for Saas-Fee to compete. European tourists, who accounted for 70% of Saas-Fee’s visitors, began to take their ski holidays elsewhere. Indeed, the European ski industry as a whole did not see a decline during this period. Flaig was forced to take drastic measures. He initiated a major cost-cutting program, reduced the workforce by more than 20% and blew up mountains to widen the ski slopes. He also invested heavily in job enrichment, basic IT education and other training in an attempt to broaden the staff’s skillset. Still the downward trend continued and local hotels began shutting down or going up for sale. With no hope of support from the bank, Flaig realized that radical change was required to avoid bankruptcy at the end of the 2016/2017 skiing season. The cultural resistance to innovation of local stakeholders was a major barrier to change. The local community had already struggled with the cost-cutting initiatives, such as partial closure of the slopes and lift installations, which they feared would deter even more skiers. A new business model would be a difficult sell. Flaig knew he could not save Saas-Fee alone. In early 2016 he mandated Swiss ski-marketing consultancy Alturos to revitalize the resort’s appeal. In October 2016 the resort announced its “Hammerdeal” initiative, an online campaign to sell ski season passes for CHF 222 instead of the usual CHF 1,050. Inspired by crowdfunding models, the deal was initially contingent upon reaching 99,999 signups by November 27, 2016. A week before the deadline, 75,000 people had signed up and the company decided to go ahead with the deal. By the time the deal closed, they had over 100,000 clients, and in one night approximately CHF 16 million was charged to the subscribers’ credit cards. This represented almost a year’s worth of revenue. The village immediately reaped the economic rewards as hotel bookings increased 45% for that winter. The cable car company’s mountain restaurants, the local shops and ski rental services also benefited. At CHF 222, the season ski pass was incredibly cheap by any standard, but Saas-Fee figured that the long-term value of this initiative was in the customer data it acquired, such as name, e-mail address, age and credit card information. With a digital footprint of 100,000 visitors, Saas-Fee created a new channel to reach its customers, promote new products and services, and gather intelligence about consumer behavior and spending patterns at the resort. Skiers became users who could be communicated with before, during and after their ski vacations. Although Saas-Fee had struggled for years to stay afloat and came close to declaring bankruptcy under his leadership, Flaig finally managed to successfully transform the business by applying agile leadership principles. He exhibited humility by engaging and listening to advice from digital marketing experts who knew more than he did and who proposed radical solutions. His hyperawareness led him to appoint a cutting-edge digital marketing consultant because when the traditional routes to attract new customers and cut costs failed, he knew sweeping changes would be needed. Throughout the entire process, Flaig remained true to his vision of returning the resort to financial viability, and once he was convinced what action was needed, he exhibited fast execution by introducing a business model that had never before been applied to a Swiss ski resort. Through his powers of engagement, he brought on board the culturally conservative local stakeholders and convinced them to also become more adaptable. Flaig channeled his passion to develop his vision. His willingness to seek help and engage with Alturos and his belief in the new initiative were critical to the success of the crowdfunding campaign. Digital disruption demands agile leaders Today’s volatile and unpredictable business landscape, shaped by digital disruption, requires managers to adopt an agile leadership approach. Agile leaders exhibit high levels of humility, adaptability, vision and engagement. They also practice digital business agility through hyperawareness, informed decision making and fast execution. Combining must-have competencies with these agile behaviors ensures that agile leaders are significantly well equipped to deal with today’s disruptive business environment. Discovery Events are exclusively available to members of IMD’s Corporate Learning Network. To find out more, go to www.imd.org/cln
Lamesa, Texas, no-tiller Jeremy Brown uses this Case IH Early Riser 1215 planter, with offset opening discs and Schlagel closing wheels, to plant no-till cotton into dense wheat residue. He plants wheat and cover crops with a Great Plains 2700 box drill. Jeremy Brown’s decision to adopt no-till practices stems from an important lesson from his backyard garden. Brown transplanted this idea it onto the landscape near Lamesa on the Southern High Plains of Texas, where he’s no-tilling 2,600 acres, most of it dryland farming. Six years ago, while looking in his garden, Brown noticed that when he moved aside the layer of protective mulch on the surface, the soil beneath the cover held moisture, and there weren’t weeds where the mulch was in place. While he’s still figuring out how to transplant no-till from irrigated to dryland acres, he’s become a passionate no-till believer growing cotton, wheat, cereal rye, sesame, and an array of warm-season cover crops to protect sandy soils and improve yields for cash crops. “My mission statement is to manage and steward the resources God gave us. If I steward the land, I’ll get a crop,” says Brown, whose farming effort is 65% dryland. “I’ve learned the more biomass I have in my fields, the better we’ll do. Instead of letting the land sit fallow, soil organisms grow better where there is something living present on the soil. “In a field with good cover, soil temperatures are less and there’s also less stress on growing plants.” Jeremy Brown is working to gradually transition no-till practices on his irrigated land to his dryland acreage near Lamesa, Texas, in the Southern High Plains. Most of his 2,600 acres of cotton and wheat he raises is dryland. In the background, a sprinkler applies a precise 1/10-inch of moisture to a harvested wheat field, planted to sesame, to encourage germination. Tufts of radishes, used by Brown to eliminate compaction from tractor tires, can be seen in the background as well. Cover the Soil Brown’s path to no-till farming was somewhat indirect. He worked on the family farm as a child and, at age 12, his Dad gave him 40 acres of irrigated land with a side-roll sprinkler. After graduating from high school he attended Texas Tech University, where he majored in agriculture communications. Post college, he served on the staff of U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Lubbock for 3½ years, and was away from the farm for a total 10 years before he “got back in” at age 29, tending one farm on his own and working with his father-in-law. While technology and Roundup Ready cotton dramatically changed farming in this region, Jeremy says the thing that altered his life markedly was when his Dad got out of farming and his world turned upside down. He noticed that Kermit Shultz in nearby Terry County began rotating cotton and wheat, utilizing the wheat residue for subsequent cotton planting, and the no-till idea for his farm was born. He began watching the practices of others and reading “lots of articles” on soil health, and the soil and yield improvements of no till that had him interested. In 2012 he did his own on-farm trial with 30-acre comparisons of fallow land, and cover crops of hairy vetch and rye. “In the next growing season’s cotton crop, you could tell exactly where you got into the ground that had covers — the crop was better there,” Brown says. Six years into the process now, wheat and cotton are the main cash crops on his farm. Brown harvests wheat, then, weather permitting, plants sesame into the standing stubble, opting for sesame’s ability to go after subsoil moisture with an aggressive root system. Rain Brings Possibilities Cotton seedlings emerge in early June amid dense wheat residue on Jeremy Brown’s farm near Lamesa, Texas. With abundant rain this summer, Brown has had problems with herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth exploding in his cotton fields, a concern for no till farmers in this region. With the region finally breaking out of a prolonged drought in May and June, Brown had plans in June to fallow wheat ground through the summer, then plant a cover-crop mix of hairy vetch, oats, wheat and rye, radishes, sunn hemp, haygrazer and pearl millet. Winter temperatures are expected to kill some of the covers and leave the ground ready for planting in spring. Following wheat harvest in a dry year, Brown keeps the stubble clean with applications of Roundup, Gramoxone or Paraquat. He believes farmers must know their cropping plans well to avoid herbicide issues on sandy soils prior to cotton planting the following spring. In a wet year, after wheat harvest, Brown plants a secondary crop of sesame or grain sorghum. On sesame he applies Direx over the top at first bloom, and on grain sorghum he uses Husky or Clarity herbicides. “I love no-till, but herbicide-resistant weeds could bring a problem, and we have to be careful with herbicides in our sandy fields,” he relates. Brown says if cotton follows a cool-season cover-crop mix, the cover is terminated with 32 ounces of Roundup about 30 days before planting, giving time for drydown prior to planting. Cotton and sorghum are planted on 40-inch rows with a Case IH Early Riser 1215 planter with offset opening discs to cut through organic matter, and Schlagel closing wheels. He says the offset opening discs cut a good seed furrow through dense residue. Brown plants wheat and cover crops with a Great Plains 2700 box drill, with opening discs on 8-inch spacings. Wheat is sown in November at 70 pounds per acre on irrigated acres and 30 pounds an acre on dryland fields. He handles spraying chores with a John Deere 4730 self-propelled sprayer with a 106-foot boom and 800-gallon tank. A sprinkler pivot in the foreground on Lamesa, Texas, no-tiller Jeremy Brown’s farm applies a mere 1/10 of an inch of moisture to sesame no-tilled into a field of wheat residue that also includes numerous emerged radish plants. One of the challenges Brown faces in migrating no-till practices, such as utilizing cover crops, from irrigated acres to dryland is avoiding using up moisture for the following cash crop. Another challenge is dealing with the mushrooming concern over how to control Palmer amaranth that is glyphosate resistant. The EQIP program through the NRCS has assisted Brown in planting multi-species cover crops. Brown hails sesame as a drought-tolerant secondary crop behind wheat that is helping to improve soil health. He faces challenges getting the small seed sprouted, and on irrigated acres he’ll apply just enough water with his pivot sprinklers to get the crop going. He likes to use radishes in fields where compaction might present a problem, particularly where the tractor tires have run in no-tilled fields. In the winter, Brown applies 3 tons per acre of compost to his irrigated land. “We don’t till in the compost, we just let it break down into the soil,” Brown explains. One challenge when seeding cover crops on dryland acres is that cotton harvest can run as late as December. Brown has come up with a method to “sling a solution” to this time crunch issue. He seeds cereal rye over the top in cotton fields in early fall, using a Herd broadcast spreader mounted on a three-point hitch on the tractor, using a rate of 10-20 pounds per acre. If he can get some rain in September, the rye sprouts in the cotton. By cotton-gathering time, usually around October 20, the stand of rye is good enough that it can be driven over with harvest equipment. “Once the cotton stripper leaves the field, the bare cotton stalks are standing amidst a good rye cover. The land is protected from wind erosion, and the growing cover crop can help to catch and hold moisture,” Brown says. In dry years, when no spring-planted crop is growing on dryland acres, Brown says a late rain will prompt him to sow haygrazer or another cover and allow it to grow until it winterkills, providing residue to plant a succeeding crop into. “I believe the reason my yields have been consistent, even with the last several years of drought, is that we’ve had a rotation with high-residue, no-tilled crops,” he says. “Cotton doesn’t like wind, and the residue I’ve been able to leave on the land provide it with wind protection. “Also, just like in my garden, the residue means the temperature at the top of the ground has put less stress on young plants.”

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